I wonder if you’ve heard someone say this about you or somebody else?
I’ve been thinking a bit about this cliché, and wondering if it’s actually what results from thinking a lot on heaven.
We’re now a couple of weeks into our teaching series on Heaven. I’ve noticed already the healthy effect it’s having on my heart and my mind to be thinking more about my future home. It makes me want to live more purposefully in the present; more joyfully; to make my days count. It also helps me to see people more as eternal souls in urgent need of Christ, who will either spend an eternity with or apart from Him.
So if my recent experience is anything to go by, it seems that the more our minds are tuned in on heaven, the more good will come of our lives on this earth. CS Lewis seems to agree. He writes these challenging words…
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next… It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither” Mere Christianity, p 134.
The Bible is of course the final word on the subject. And Colossians 3:2 is very clear: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. How much would you say your thoughts have been set on heaven of late?
Let’s be a body of people who over these coming weeks think and learn as much as possible about heaven. Let’s take the opportunity to invest much thought and conversation with one another over these weeks in learning about our heavenly home, encouraging one another about our hope, asking questions about it and seeking the Scriptures. I wonder what kind of profound effect this might have on our lives and on us as a church if we do.
By Rich, elder at Christ Community Church