Are You Looking Forward to Heaven

“And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain,; the first things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

Hey Gang:  Can we start this morning message with a gigantic ‘Whoopie?’ As a little squeezer my dear saintly grandmother lived with us.  She was a needle point-er who sewed beautiful pictures on towels and, while sewing, she also sowed the seeds of my future salvation.  Once she made a statement that I did not understand.  She said “She was homesick for heaven”. 

I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.  Why would she want to leave this utopia of living with me and my family and go to some unknown place that she knew nothing about?  I was very young and my dreams were filled with visions of grandeur and of all the things I wanted.  At that point in my life my mind was not on a new set of wings but rather a red convertible that would go from zero to sixty in two seconds. 

But, now that I am in that ‘Golden Years’ bracket, I am beginning to understand what she meant.  The years have a way of increasing our tears, as we see life-long friends go to be with the Lord. We find it more difficult to get our ‘get-up-and-go’ to ‘get-up- and- go’  and we struggle with problems that we no longer have the energy to deal with. 

Did you know the number one problem in the world today is – fear?  And with fear comes tears.  I have done some research on crying and have noticed that when a person has just been crying, you can look into their eyes and see traces of tears.  But, I have some fabulous news for you, when we love Christ, the day will come when even these traces will be gone.  They won’t just evaporate.  God will wipe them from our eyes.

Soooo,  young folks, when you are up to your armpits in alligators and your focus is on the here and now, take a  minute and remember - those persons who wrote the Bible thought a lot about the life to come and they found faith to put their trust in God and willingness to put their lives in His hands!!   

Blessings,

Gramps