Delusive Appetizers 2

I know some who read my post about heaven wondered why all the fuss yet we will go to heaven anyway. Or is it not promised?

Won’t we just roll into heaven when we close the chapter that is this life?

Allow me to burst some of those doctrinal balloons by this

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7: 13, 14)

Heaven is not a default setting. Heaven is not a destination we reach by autopilot or something similar.

In short, heaven is not easy to reach. It is actually very difficult to get there as Christ taught.

You see, it is not only that the road is straight and narrow. It is actually very difficult to find. We can comfortably say that it is deeply hidden in such a way that only a diligent searcher can find it. Nobody can to stumble on it.

I must diligently look for the road to be able to find it. Then I have to lose weight to be fit to travel it.

I must therefore greatly desire it to be able to fit in it. I must be continually thinking about it to be consistently able to walk it.

Heaven is therefore not just what will happen when we die. Heaven is about how we prepare for it.

For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:25)

No wonder the disciples wondered who then could fit on that road. Because it is not easy.

I am not therefore advising us to just consider heaven.

I want us to reflect on what God through His word says about heaven.

Only then can we crave it to the point that we will be shaped by that reality.

You cannot be able to get to a heaven that does not consume your spirit. You cannot get to a heaven that is a by the way in your life. You cannot get to a heaven that you do not crave.

It means that those who are preoccupied with what God will do for us here are not going to heaven.

Allow me to fetch some oblique verses

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6: 2 - 4)

We cannot harvest here and expect to continue harvesting in heaven. We cannot enjoy the rewards of here and expect the same in heaven. Remember He talked about prayer in the same vein.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (Luke 16:25)

What is this talking about?

I believe it has everything to do with focus.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6: 20, 21)

I cannot lay my treasures where my heart isn’t. my heart determines my investments.

I can’t pray for the here and now and expect to harvest from a heaven I have invested nothing on.

I hope I have placed such a damper on all the motivation about the here and now to set your heart free to consider the purpose of your salvation. And I am not sorry I have rattled some of you in the process.