The Pull of Heaven

 

The Pull of Heaven - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org

 

We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. -1 Chronicles 29:15

 

When we're young, life seems to go slowly. But as we get older, we can't believe how quickly life goes. We can't believe how quickly a week goes-then a month, then a year.

 

The Bible says this about our lives: "We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace" (1 Chronicles 29:15).

 

Yet the Bible also says that God "has planted eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are not highly evolved animals; we are uniquely made in the image of God with a soul and a desire to know the God who created us.

 

For those of us who have put our trust in Christ, we are citizens of a different place. You might say that we have dual citizenship. We are citizens of the planet Earth, but we are heavenly citizens as well. Philippians 3:20 says, "We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior."

 

I heard the story of a little boy who was flying his kite, which had gone up so high, he could no longer see it. Someone saw him tugging on the string and asked, "Where is your kite?"

 

"Up there," he said.

 

"I can't see your kite. How do you know it's there?"

 

"It's there," the boy said. "I feel its tug."

 

We feel the same thing. We feel the pull of heaven deep down inside. As Augustine wrote, "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it [rests] in Thee." There's a desire in us, a craving in us, that nothing on this earth will ever satisfy.

 

A Heavenly Perspective - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org

 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. -Matthew 5:8

 

In his book called Heaven, my friend Randy Alcorn wrote, "We may imagine we want a thousand different things, but God is the one we really long for. His presence brings satisfaction; his absence brings thirst and longing. Our longing for Heaven is a longing for God."

 

When we long for heaven, we're longing for God. The Bible promises that a day is coming when we will see God face to face. Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

 

Heaven isn't just a state of mind; it's a real place. And one day we will see God. Seeing Him will be like seeing everything else for the first time. Not only will we see God, but He will be the lens through which we see everything else-people, ourselves, and the events of this life. When we get to heaven, everything will suddenly make sense to us. We will see everything from a different perspective.

 

When things happen in life that don't make sense, we'll say, "This is wrong. This is not fair. This is so hard." But one day when we get to heaven, we will see these things from God's perspective. I don't think we will forget everything in heaven. The fact is that we will know more in heaven, not less.

 

The Bible says, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). I'll take it a step further, even. I believe we will learn in heaven, that we will continue to grow. But we'll have a divine perspective when we get there. That is the hope of the follower of Jesus Christ when we see God face to face.