Heaven is the real world…

I fell in love with another Bible verse recently. Probably because it awakened me to a subtle error I had been participating in. The book of Colossians tells us to “Seek those which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col. 3:2-3).

The Spirit of God used that verse to remind me again that this is not my real home – heaven is. That’s why my heart ought to be there. It’s also why my thoughts should be there too!

I read something by Pastor Eugene Peterson recently where he told the story of preaching on a Sunday morning, following the sermon a high-energy executive came up to him and said, “This was wonderful pastor, but now we have to get back to the real world, don’t we?” Peterson writes,

I bristled. I had thought we were in the most-real world, the world revealed as God’s, a world believed to be invaded by God’s grace and turning on the pivot of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

What I’m growing to appreciate is that heaven is the real world. It’s the one that lasts. That’s why the Bible refers to it as eternal. In heaven there is “fullness of joy” because Jesus Christ is there. (Psalm 16:11).

Answer this simple question: Have you ever wanted something so badly that it held your mind’s attention? It captivated your heart’s desires? Eventually you got it only for it to break? It now lies at the bottom of a landfill somewhere in South Jersey? How is it that our culture has convinced us that that kind of thing is real, and a heaven that lasts and is filled with joy is not?

That’s why I’ve spent my week thinking on things that are above. Thinking about Jesus. Who He is, and what He has done for our world (John 3:16-17). I guess I just don’t want my desires or my thoughts to be consumed anymore with the stuff that doesn’t last. You’ll never find heaven in a landfill, but you’ll find a lot of your personal possessions there.