Is your joy in Heaven

In 1985, I was living in East Tennessee where four seasons are realized and enjoyed. I had just accepted a job in South Florida where temperatures were sub-tropic all year long and seasons didn’t occur. The only difference in weather was it was either rain or sun-shine but normally always hot. Prior to moving to South Florida, I had only paid one visit there and really didn’t know much about it. I was anxious about going and anxious about knowing about the place I was going to. I had heard about South Florida, but had never really visited there ever before. I had seen pictures of the Florida Keys, Florida Bay and of course the ocean, the palm trees, the ficus trees but had never been there. Needless to say, much of my anxiousness came from not knowing what to expect. Would it be like being on vacation all the time or would it be like living in a Sauna all the time. These among many thoughts were to be considered and thought about prior to our moving. I read everything I could and talked to as many people as I could, but nothing really prepared me like going and seeing for myself.

As I think about that time, I realized I was a short-timer in East Tennessee and was moving to a foreign place that I knew little about, but I was excited. Scripture tells me that I am a short-timer here on this earth and that one day I will be moving to a foreign place that I know little about, but a much bigger issue is at hand. Am I excited about this move like I was about the move to South Florida. You see, I perceived that moving to South Florida would fill in the blanks of my life for me. I thought happiness would follow me there and I thought problems would be left behind and all would be well but that didn’t happen. Yet I’m told in scripture, that one day those things will happen and yet, I have to ask the question over and over again. “Am I as excited about that move as I should be?” Just think about it, you are leaving the place where you were born, where you’ve grown up and the place where you have lived all you life and your going to a new place and your going to have a new life. Why don’t we learn as much as we can about the new place we are going. Surely, if we hope to live there in this much better place than we now live in, we ought to know all we can about it and become acquainted with it.

Jonathan Edwards, the great Puritan preacher once wrote, “ Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can.” The only way that happiness could become reality for Mr. Edwards would demand that he plan and know something about this place he was going to. You see, if Mr. Edwards didn’t find happiness in Christ, why would he ever think he would find happiness in heaven. Many people today don’t find their happiness in Christ, therefore, they don’t see heaven as a viable option from the place they now live. They are so wrapped up in the present, that heaven doesn’t have an attraction to them. They are so enveloped in the things of this world, that they can’t imagine being without those things.

Then again, heaven doesn’t have an appeal to many people because they don’t have a clear perception of what heaven really is. Some think that when we go to heaven, we will just float around heaven all day strumming on our harps and feeling googooly-goock all the time. That’s not what heaven is like and even if it were, I know enough about Hell that I would rather be in a state of non-existence than to be in torment all my life. In fact, let’s just admit it, most of us know more about the place we don’t want to go than the place we do want to go. Right?

OKAY! Just so this blog is not too long for you to read and enjoy, I will break this up into several blogs, which will require you to come back and read the remaining thoughts I have concerning heaven. Since my blog on “Will we know each other in Heaven, I have had more hits on this than anything else I’ve written so I intend to keep you reading. Please respond to this blog if you say nothing more than “hey”
I would love to know your thoughts of heaven, so please respond to this blog. Let’s keep this going so we all can grow and know. God bless and see you at the next blog and we will talk about our misconceptions of heaven.