Skip to main content

A Picture of Heaven and Why You Need One

            Over the years, Sears has spent countless time and money creating its “Christmas Wish Book”.  Think about all the planning, picture taking, organizing, printing and delivery effort it takes to put that catalogue out each year (especially back in the pre-computer days).  Why did they do it? 

            Obviously, Sears knew one thing:  Pictures matter.  A picture may be “worth a thousand words”, but in retail a picture is also “worth a few thousand sales”.  That is why you receive flyers at your door each week.  Retailers know that if they can get you to see their item, then you will likely be more interested in it.

            Of course, that strategy worked.  As a kid, I would spend hours looking at the toys in the “Wish Book” and then even more hours bugging my mom to buy them for me.  In particular, I remember a blue and yellow remote control airplane.  I stared at that picture for so long that even 33 years later I think I could recreate that airplane in exact detail.  Pictures matter!

            The Biblical writers also knew the value of pictures, even if theirs were “word pictures”, and one of their favorite subjects to “show” was heaven.  Consider this description from Hebrews 12:  “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood” (Verses 22-24).

            Can you imagine the “city of God”?   Can you see “thousands upon thousands of angels”?  Can you feel the joy of their worship?  (By the way, how did we ever come to decide that anything churchy had to be “funeral-like” when every Biblical picture of heaven is about “joy” and “celebration”?)  Can you see your name written in the book of life (Revelation 20) and the God who is just waiting for you to come home?  What do you think God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the angels look like? 

            Even if the image that you come up with is somewhat inaccurate and inadequate (no earthly words or images will do justice to spiritual things), it is important to have a picture of heaven, because pictures are motivating.  Dreaming of something now will cause us to alter our “todays” so that our dream comes true “tomorrow”.

           What does heaven look like to you?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Twenty-three Descriptions of God (Psalm 145)

  Let’s play a quick game.  Take 10 seconds and list 5 or 6 words to describe God.  Got your words?  Good!   Here comes the game part.  I will list twenty-three ways that David describes God in Psalm 145, and we will see how many of his words match yours.   David says that God is, the king, great, majestic, wonderful, powerful, awesome, abundant in goodness, righteous, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, good to all, glorious, mighty, trustworthy, faithful, supporting, generous, providing, near, saving and watching.     How did you do? This is not a useless exercise.  The words we use to describe God not only indicate something about how we see him, but they also influence how we interact with him.  For example, if I know that God is “Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (verse 8), I will not fear him, and I will not assume that he is against me.  When I remember that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: What is so Great About Grace?

If you were to drive by our house, you would see that Sara loves plants.  Our yard is full of flowers, and Sara lovingly tends every one of them. Which is why I was so afraid when she left town and put me in charge of keeping things alive. She must have been a little concerned, too, because she sent me two videos with specific instructions on how to water, when to water, and what to do.  Honestly, those first two videos helped, but the third one she sent was the one I liked most.  In that one, she said, “Please do your best. I want the yard to look good for the family reunion in two weeks.  However, if something dies, we will dig it out and pretend that it never existed!” That is what grace looks like!  Try your best, do what you can, but if it goes wrong, it will be ok. Sometimes we talk as though grace and effort are opposites.  That is not true.  They are partners. In one place, scripture asks, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone c...
Post a Comment
Read more