The Motivation of Heaven—The Christian's Real Home

Bible commentator E.M. Bounds wrote, “Heaven ought to draw and engage us. Heaven ought to so fill our hearts and hands, our manner, and our conversation, our character, and our features, that all would see that we are foreigners, strangers to this world. Heaven is our native land and home to us, and death to us is not the dying hour, but the birth hour.”

Christians should be motivated by the truth they will be in Heaven someday. Heaven is our real home. The absence of our loved ones who have gone to Heaven before us is not a period—it’s a comma. Earth is a temporary place where we decide our eternal destiny.

Heaven: Our Motivation

As Warren Wiersbe pointed out, “For the Christian, Heaven isn’t simply a destination; it’s a motivation.”

We spend much of our time thinking about things that concern us. Yet, the Bible tells us, “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2–3 NLT).

Another translation puts the same passage this way: “Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God” (TLB).

“Let heaven fill your thoughts.” When we think more about Heaven than the things that cause us stress, it will put everything else in proper perspective.

Here’s what the Bible says about the world system: “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” (1 John 2:16–17 NLT).

A Glimpse of Eternity

If you’re a Christian, one day Jesus will call you to Heaven, whether it’s through death or the rapture of the church. And in Heaven, it never will be boring. In fact, we’ll be active in Heaven.

We have a caricatured version of Heaven in which we imagine ourselves sitting around on clouds, playing harps, and sleeping all day. That might appeal to some, but it doesn’t appeal to me.

I like to get out and live life. I like to be active, not for the sake of busyness but to be productive and accomplish things—especially things for the Lord. The Bible says we will serve God in eternity (see Revelation 22:3). We will be engaged in activities as we do the Lord’s work.

We tend to think that everything that happens with us must take place during the short span of our lives that we have on Earth. But according to the Bible, we will live forever. And there are still things we will do in the future.

Death for the believer is not the end of life but the continuation of it in another place.

I think of my son, Christopher, who is in Heaven right now. He was a committed believer and a loving son, brother, husband, and father. He also was a talented designer. And I wonder whether God still has plans for him to use his talents.

What I do know is that we will have work to do in Heaven. We will have tasks to accomplish. And maybe the dreams we never realized on Earth will be realized in Heaven.

What We Should Be Seeking

God loves us, and He gave abilities to each of us, along with a desire to achieve and do something with our lives. In fact, the Bible promises that “He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers” (Romans 2:7 NLT).

We want that. We want to accomplish something, and we want our lives to matter. God wired us that way. But it all will be done in His time.

Until then, we want to be faithful with what God has set before us. We want to use our lives, our time, and our resources wisely, because we don’t know when life will end.

Here’s the big question we need to ask ourselves: Why am I here on Earth?

If we don’t know the answer, we’ll be in trouble.

We are here to know and glorify God and to produce spiritual fruit. Revelation 4 gives us the words of a song that will be sung in Heaven: “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased” (verse 11 NLT).

We were created to bring glory to God, honor God and bring pleasure to God. The problem is that some people live for their own pleasure. The Bible even tells us that in the last days people will be “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:4 NKJV).

Here’s the problem with that. We never will find pleasure when we chase after pleasure. But if we fulfill the purpose for which God created us, which is to know Him and glorify Him, then we will experience pleasure. But it isn’t the kind of pleasure the world offers. It’s different.

We will experience fulfillment and contentment as we sense we are living the way that God wants us to live. The psalmist David wrote, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” (Psalm 16:11 NLT).

So, what are you doing for the kingdom of God while you are on Earth? What are you doing for Heaven’s sake?

God has given each of us a life; yet, sadly, many of us squander a great portion of that gift in the pursuit of nothingness. It’s very easy to waste time. Let’s think about how to use our lives for the glory of God. There is no time to waste.

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Originally published at WND.com