Thoughts Turned Heavenward

Images of cerulean waters and pristine beaches flashed across the screen. Who would ever want to leave this paradise? a talking flip-flop asked.

"Mom, I wouldn't leave. Would you?" asked our youngest as we endured yet another commercial.

Isn't that for which we all long? Paradise. Rest. Unmarred beauty. A final perfect residence. We were made to long for something more than this earth --even with all of its breathtaking places --can offer. We were made to long for heaven, the place inhabited by the God of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. A place that is not cursed. A place of matchless beauty. A place prepared for us. A place of light. A place where angels will continue to minister to us. A place of perpetual worship to our God. 

But is heaven, the object of our heart's desire, a location? Years ago, a pastor asked me, "If God was not in heaven, would you want to go?" I'd never considered that. My faith centered largely around the idea of escapism. The "something better" at the end of a difficult life here on earth, like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. 

In Luke 22:41-44, Jesus agonizes in the garden hours before His excruciating death: 

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Angels appeared to Him, strengthening Him for what was to come.

In Matthew 4:5-6, Satan appears to Jesus in the wilderness, tempting Him to recklessly defy gravity in a prideful test of God's Word:  

“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

When Jesus rebuffs all of Satan's temptations, angels come and minister to Him (Mt. 4:11). 

Angels sent from heaven to refresh, strengthen, protect, minister. For what purpose? In the case of Jesus' time in the wilderness, to prepare Him for the start of His ministry. In the case of Gethsemane, to prepare Him for the terrible, wonderful hours to come. There is a bigger picture here. Jesus does not just bide His time in obedience, waiting for a time of relief, an end to His labors to come. Jesus is working, suffering, enduring so that He might work, and suffer, and endure even more! The angels do not appear, ready to bestow on the King some climactic reward. They come to refresh Him that He might go further in His obedience. The rest, the reward, the refreshing, the peace is not the end game. Obedience that brings glory to the Father is the endgame for Jesus. And it should be our endgame as well.

Yes, we long for heaven. Yes, we should long for heaven. Yes, we were made to long for heaven. Because heaven is God's presence. Jesus came to earth so that heaven, the presence of God, might be among His people. Therefore, as ambassadors of Christ, our work is to bring eternal things, the Spirit of God and His fruit, into a temporal place --earth. We are to be heavenly-minded but not in the sense we yearn for some perfect retirement village established for worn out saints. That would be settling for less than what God has in store for us. We are to train our thoughts on the things of heaven because they are the things of God, His kingdom come to us, His will done on earth as it is by His messenger angels in His presence. And those things of heaven revealed to us, His servants, commissioned to serve Him and bring Him glory for all eternity.