May 17th, 2013
Hey, everyone!
Man! It’s hard to believe but, here it is already! Friday, May 17! And I know what you’re looking forward to!
“You know it! The weekend!!!”
Nope.
“Let’s see…Softball tonight?”
Not what I had in mind.
“Memorial Day weekend?”
I wasn’t thinking of that.
"Opening day for the Vols?"
Wrong again.
First game for the Wildcats?"
We're more excited than ever, but that's not it either.
“What am I looking forward to, then?!”
Duh!...Heaven!...Hello!
Isn’t it true that you’re looking forward to that Day?!
“Sure…sorta…I mean, I haven’t really thought about it all that much this week but…yeah, I’m looking forward to Heaven…
...I guess.”
Probably that’s a little closer to how we feel about it than we’d like to admit. I mean, I’ve known some people who were REALLY PUMPED about going to Heaven! They thought about it all the time and couldn’t wait! My friend Pastor Stuckey, who’s been in Heaven for a few years now, loved to talk, think, and sing about it! He had these red pajamas sitting on a table by his front door for years and years. They were the pj’s he planned to be buried in. They were red to remind everyone of the blood of Jesus which makes us clean from our sin and messes. They were by his door to remind him (as if he ever needed it!) that the day they put those pj’s on him, he’d be in Heaven, where he longed to be in his heart for years and years.
Then one day, he had them on. I'll never forget it.
In his letter to the followers of Jesus in the town of Colosse, Paul said they had love and real faith just springing up out of their hearts because of the hope they had of being in Heaven soon!
Y’know, maybe the reason it’s easier to get “fired up” about Friday nights or a week-end Saturday morning, is that you know what to look forward to. That’s the night you go out to eat, or it’s family rent-a-movie night. Or you know you'll hear "Roll, Wildcats! Roll!" And that Saturday-sleeping-in, followed by coffee and the sports page on the porch…Ahhh!…it’s what you daydream about on Tuesdays!
“But Heaven…? I just can’t get my mind around what to expect. I mean, I know it will be awesome, but…I KNOW why I love Friday nights! Heaven…I’m not so sure about. Can anyone tell me what’s it really gonna be like?”
The Good News is…No, not really!!
It’s going to be so awesome and amazing that we are presently incapable of imagining it! The Scripture say no one has ever seen anything even close to what it will be like! There will be sounds there that will be unlike anything ever heard in the history of the world! It is beyond anything anyone could ever dream or imagine! (1 Cor. 2:9! Check it out!)
It’s going to be full of amazing, unexpected surprises! When you think you know something about it, you find out it will be amazingly different! F’r example, in Heaven we’ll serve Jesus night and day. Of course, we will! But, hey! Listen to this.
“It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when He comes. I tell you the truth, He will dress Himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and WAIT ON THEM!” (Luke 12)
The Message puts it…
“Lucky the servants whom the Master finds on watch! He'll put on an apron, sit them at the table, and serve them…!”
Did you get that?! We’ll be “finally home”, but also…we’ll be the guests at this amazing banquet…and (get this!) our Lord will serve us! He’ll wait on us! “Hi, Bill! Hi, Jill! I'm Jesus and I’ll be your server today!”
Can you imagine!?
How ‘bout this surprise…Heaven will be filled with praising God all the time. Absolutely! Who would expect anything less? But did you know that in Heaven…
“…He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God…!”
That’s a twist! We’ll always be praising Him, but He’ll “praise” you for things you did and thoughts you had for Him that you’ve forgotten about long ago…but that He has always remembered and treasured!
And He could come for us at any minute! “In the twinkling of an eye!” Could even be today! What if He came today? Sure, you’d miss your Friday night movie and Saturday coffee on the porch, but…wait…come to think of it, you wouldn’t miss them.
You wouldn’t miss them for second!