After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
– Revelation 7:9-12 (ESV)
I thought of heaven when I listened to my Kenyan friend pray last week at small group. I remembered the prayers in Spanish when we blessed the home we built for a family near Tecpan, Guatemala in June. I am drawn to worship music that lets me hear accents of people’s homes, whether that’s Ireland or Georgia.
All the tongues, even the ones I can’t understand with my American ears, are praising the same God, the one who sent his son for us. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and the tapestry of accents is going to be beautiful when we get there.
“The fact is that you cannot make sense out of life unless you look at it from the vantage point of eternity. If all God’s grace gives us is a little better here and now, if it doesn’t finally fix all that sin had broken, then perhaps we have believed in vain. … There has to be more to God’s plan than this world of sin, sickness, sorrow, and death. There has to be more than the temporary pleasures of this physical world. Yes, there is more, and when you live like there’s more to come, you live in a radically different way.”
– Paul David Tripp in “New Morning Mercies”
As I shuttle kids around and navigate all the conversations required, I don’t think about heaven as much as I should. I think about what it’s like to live here in our self-absorbed culture, how I should best raise my kids to be believers here, and whether I’m doing enough to point them to Jesus. But I don’t parent with heaven in mind.
I want to change that.
I want to point them to Jesus because he’s preparing a place for them too, not just because his example is the right way to live here in our temporary homes.
I want to teach them about living with an eternal perspective because then so few things will matter like we think they do. I want to love and learn alongside them.
I want to believe what Jesus says. I want to live with a gaze toward heaven, where all the tribes and nations will be one. I’m guessing I’ll understand those prayers from the Guatemalans when we get there.
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Extra, extra!
PODCAST: In honor of Valentine’s Day, I got to chat with my friend Mary Carver about TV marriages for her podcast, The Couch. Be sure to tune in to our episode plus the other recent episodes. {LISTEN HERE or HERE.}
LOVE STORY: Plus the story of #TeamTaylor began 21 years ago when Greg and I went on our first date on Valentine’s Day after we’d met a week earlier. {READ HERE.}
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I am much older than you, Kristin, and I think of heaven a lot. So many are there waiting for that “great day.” When Bridegroom and bride sit at the great table — can we even remotely imagine?
I can’t actually imagine at all, which is terrifying and wonderful. I’m always glad to have you here, my friend. xo
It’s odd, but it’s true that we’re going to spend so much more time in heaven than we do here, yet we don’t give it much thought. Heaven has been on my mind more lately in light of my mother-in-law’s recent passing. I love how C. S. Lewis put it in The Last Battle, the last book of the Narnia series: “And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
Oh, yes, that’s a great quote! It is odd to our human minds about the time span of this life on earth compared to eternity. I’m grateful God’s timing is perfect, even when I don’t understand it. Thanks for sharing, Barbara!
I just finished a book, Remember Death, that talks about some of these same things, Kristin. As a culture, we don’t like to think about death, and sometimes if we don’t think about death, we also don’t think about heaven. 🙁
Yes, you’re right that we often separate death & heaven. I’ll have to check out that book. Glad you’re here, Lisa!
Yours is the second post I’ve read this week that talks about this. (Which is not too much at all! The more, the better!) We should be anticipating Heaven more. It is a delight to me to be reminded of what we have to look forward to!
God is repeating the message to me too. Today I listened to a podcast that brought heaven into perspective again. Thanks for being here, Jana!
It does make a difference to keep our eyes on eternity. It focuses us on what really matters and it’s easy to lose sight of that at times so this is a great reminder.
I need the reminder myself! Glad you’re here, Lesley!
So fun for you to be on the podcast! I have been listening and I’ll be sure to catch that one! Also, have you ever thought about how so many old hymns are songs about longing for heaven and we never sing about that anymore? Another symptom of our self-absorbtion? (I can’t figure out how to spell this word)
I hadn’t thought about the hymns, but you’re so right! I like when we do hymns at church. I like the mixture of new & old songs. Thanks for being here, Lauren! And I hope you enjoy the podcast. 🙂
All wonderful goals, Kristin. You are teaching your children the right priorities. Keep going! 🙂
Thanks, my friend!
I wonder what heaven is like too! Especially with so many friends already there. Great post friend!
Thank you, Tara! I’m glad you could be encouraged, especially with your experiences this year. xo