Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25 (NIV)
Imagine Tom and Mary, a young couple engaged and about to be married. The wedding is just five days away, and Tom takes Mary out for a candlelit dinner. “Five days to go,” Tom says, “I can hardly wait for Saturday to come.” Mary smiles as she looks into his eyes across the candles, “Tell me why you’re so excited about Saturday.”
Now, all Tom has to say is, “Because on Saturday, I get to marry you!” But Tom’s a bit slow, and so he says, “Because my great uncle Jack is coming in from Boston. I haven’t seen him for years. And my college friends from the football team are all coming into town, and we’re all going out on Friday night. And the reception is in the ballroom at the Grand Hotel, and I just love the food at that place.” All these things may be wonderfully true, but by making them his focus, Tom has completely missed the point!
If your life on earth is about people, pleasures, and possessions, that will probably be your idea of heaven as well. There is no room for Christ in some people’s view of heaven, and that’s because there is no room for Him in their life on earth. But there is only one heaven, and Jesus Christ is at the center of everything that goes on there.
Surveys show that something like 90% of all Americans believe that they are going to heaven. A good question to ask is: “Why would you want to go there?”
How would you answer this question?
