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One idea that won’t leave me along this year is that of keeping my eyes on the goal–our home in heaven. So when our study from Luke took a break for the summer, I began to study and learn more about heaven. Because, I thought, if heaven is the goal, I want to learn as much about it as I can.

While reading in Revelation, I found out talk about heaven can get pretty strange pretty fast. The descriptions sound almost like John was grasping at terms we could understand to describe something that’s quite beyond our imaginations.

In the end, I think our biggest take away from study about heaven, whether descriptions of heaven leave you in awe or scratching your head, should be that God and Jesus will be there.

Yes, it will be beautiful beyond anything this world has to offer. Yes, it will be perfect in every way with no death, or pain, or sorrow. But most of all we will have the desire of our hearts, to live with God forever. To live in his presence forever.

This is a promise we can hold tightly to. Jesus tells us in John 14:3:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

 Then in Revelation 21:22-23 and 22:3-5 John writes:

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb…No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

If you don’t know God, this may not seem like heaven. This may be as exciting as learning you’ll be spending the rest of your life with some stranger next door. If this is where you are, I challenge you to begin to spend time with Jesus daily. Start with the gospels and walk your way through them getting to know who He really is. Just like you did with your spouse or significant other in the beginning of your relationship, spend time one-on-one daily. As you get to know Jesus, your love and eventually excitement will begin to grow, and heaven may begin to seem more like heaven for you.

If you do know God, the prospect of being in his presence daily probably seems like coming home. Just as you are so excited to spend time with your spouse or significant other when you are apart, you may feel the same anticipation and excitement about finally spending face-to-face time with Jesus one day. If this is where you are, I encourage you to continue spending time with Him each day. Don’t let anything stand in the way of deepening that relationship. Just as earthly relationships can wane when we neglect them, so, too, can our relationship with Christ. Please don’t let that happen to you. If you continue to walk with him daily, heaven will always seems like heaven to you.

I’m praying for you both. Praying that you and I will begin and continue to seek God daily. To spend time with Him and get to know Him. Because it is only in that relationship that we are made whole, and it’s only in that relationship that we will find our way home.