What will Heaven and eternity be like? I've often asked those questions, especially after Ted left this earth. Those are questions we need to dare to dream about. I don't think we give them near enough time to roll around in our minds.
As a culture, we're almost afraid to talk about death. We act like we will be here forever, so we can ignore having those conversations or making those serious decisions, or telling our friends about our faith. We treat death as negative or dark. But with all due respect, we can face the fact that death is part of life. We are all mortal human beings that will one day pass from this earth.
Anyone who has lost a loved one has probably taken this curiosity to a new level. We wonder about what it is like for our loved ones in their new world and we dream of seeing them again some day. We dream of meeting our Creator face to face and having Him tell us about all the great and unsearchable things we do not know. Having seen so many beautiful things and wonders of this world, I am eagerly anticipating a world even better than this one!
Celebrating Easter reminds us of Jesus' resurrection, that He conquered sin and death and that He did it for us -- so that we can be together with Him for eternity. All we need to do is have faith and believe. When we can fathom Jesus' resurrection, we can begin to fathom being resurrected with Him.
"What are you banking your eternity on?" is the important question Troy asked several times in the Easter service, inspired by the movie, Risen.
Do you believe that Jesus is real, that He truly died on that cross and actually rose from the dead? Will you believe in and accept God's free gift of mercy brought through His son? I would never want to miss out nor have any of my friends or relatives miss out either.
What have you got to lose by not believing? Everything, for eternity.
What have we got to gain by believing? Everything, for eternity.
After all these years of hearing that message, I am still in awe -- and more in awe -- of a perfect God who could love imperfect me so completely He'd extend His mercy and grace and welcome me into a forever home far better than anything I could ask or imagine. We must never let ourselves lose the wonder of His mercy.
If you're banking your eternity on this, would you take a moment to dream of Heaven, to thank and praise God, and to tell someone about this wonderful news!
