Most of us plan our holidays well in advance. Even though we are in lockdown my wife had already booked one of our holidays in July! Whether we will be able to go or not is uncertain, and what format it will be again is uncertain, but my wife though is desperately hoping it will happen; me, not so much!
- Have we ever thought about Heaven as a holiday destination?
- Have you ever wondered what it would be like?
- Does it exist?
- Are the streets paved with Gold?
- Does everybody go?
I would like to take time this week to invite you to explore with me my idea of what heaven means to me and create a brochure which we could use to advertise heaven.
Generally we call into a travel agent, or if you are like my wife order holiday brochures (lots of them!) to see the places my wife wants to go to and have all the information to make a judgement. Can I say me, not so much? After all my wife repeatedly tells me it is very important to plan a holiday as most of us only have a couple of weeks in which to enjoy the holiday.
What is in my brochure for Heaven as a destination?
Let me ask you have you really stopped to think what heaven is really like? Are there any brochures to show me so I can be excited?
- How would you create a brochure advertising heaven?
- What would it look like?
- How would you describe it?
For me, heaven is something like a holiday in one respect. I am definitely looking forward to it, but not sure how it is going to turn out, or what it will be like when I arrive. You see I have been on holidays where the hotel and food are not up to my standard (I must say at this point that I am very fussy).
Many years ago a chocolate advertising company had a young man on a desert island under a palm tree with a bar of chocolate in his hand and described the place, or rather the chocolate bar, as ‘paradise’ (in case you don’t know, the chocolate bar is called Bounty).
Heaven has been described as paradise. Jesus used that word too, not on a beach, but on a cross to a dying thief; today you shall be with me in paradise.
So I hope you will come with me as we begin to explore our holiday heavenward journey and to leave you today with I think the most important fact about heaven, which is definitely going into the brochure.
Heaven is for real
In the Bible, there are many passages about heaven but probably the most famous is in John 14 where Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to die, but not to be disheartened because He is going not only to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven but Jesus is going to prepare a place for them. For me, Jesus does not lie. If Jesus says He is going to prepare then 1) He is, and 2) heaven is real.
Both the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John described being taken into heaven, none more so than John where we can gain some valuable information about heaven.
I hope you come on this journey as we compile the contents of our brochure. One thing is for sure whether we come out of lockdown now or in the future, our first component in our brochure is “Heaven is REAL”
Jesus said
Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.
John 14:1-3