“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” – Hebrews 11:6
On Sunday evening the power went out in our area for a little while, and though we managed to stay cool by playing games in our basement, perhaps the greater inconvenience were the intermittent “low-battery” chirps on our smoke detector, which frightened our little terrier, even to the point crawling under our bed and jumping into our bath tub!
I don’t know why this made me think of heaven, but it did! I think of the countless promises in God’s Word regarding that future day that will come for all who are waiting for Jesus’ return (Matthew 24:44-46) Jesus goes on to describe, in three parables, what it will be like for those who forget or are not ready for His return, and go about their lives in a self-serving kind of way.
There’s only so much we can know about the afterlife. Near-death experiences can be unreliable at best. The only way we can be sure of heaven or hell is if we are sure of the One who made both it and us, (of Whom it is both obvious and plain – Romans 1:20) and believing that He has revealed this to us in one way or another. Christians believe that God has revealed truth about heaven through His Word and the one who “came from heaven”: Jesus, the Son of God. (John 3:13) If we believe that God’s Word has been faithfully preserved for us (and I do), then any information we can glean from that communication is trustworthy. It is another thing altogether, for believers to live in light of that reality!
Consider the words of the Apostle Paul, who I believe to be inspired by the God in his writing: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1) This is describing another way of “seeing”, which leads to another way of living. I would want to know all that I possibly could regarding an existence that would affect me for all eternity! That is consistent with what is also declared of us, “He has set eternity in the hearts of men” (Eccl 3:11).
Paul is indicating that life lived on the basis of eternity (that is, by God’s Will), may lead one to substitute ease and comfort of a temporal nature for one that is temporarily harder, but far more rewarding in the eternal sense. Jesus told his disciples that they would encounter persecution for following Him (John 16:2), but also “In my Father’s house are many rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2). Their decision to remain true to Him would result in great future leadership: “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28) What would this look like if it were still applied today?
This is describing the “faith” in Hebrews 11:6. It is God’s desire for His people to trust Him with limited knowledge, and it pleases Him for us to operate on the basis of His promises, believing Him to be a benevolent Father. If our perspective is as limited on eternity, as a little terrier’s is to the reason behind fearful “little chirps” that hurt his little ears, then we need to see that a life of trust in the unseen God regarding the unseen realm, would be the only rational thing! If Paul is right, that our “light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”, then I would need to trust God on the seemingly insignificant details, as obedience in that could be producing something beyond my wildest imagination! I can speculate, but it is far better to trust!
I have shared before about my biological mother and grandmother; they had such a hope of heaven and confidence in God in the face of death, that the memory remains clear in my mind to this day. They could not set me on the path of eternal life, but they could introduce me to the One who holds my soul in His Hands! They both shared how much they looked forward to entering into eternity with Jesus, while also hoping to see me there with them, some day as well.
Have you ever read so much about a person, prior to meeting them so that when you do meet them face to face, it feels like you already know them? Though we already have far more than that at our disposal, part of me wants to so understand God’s revealed Word so that when I do see Jesus face-to-face, it will be as if I would say, “I feel like I already know you!” Indeed, let’s earnestly seek Him now, and let our eyes of faith transform our lives through obedience. Let what you know of Him, transform the “little things” that are achieving for us and “eternal glory”!