Up where we belong

With so much attention devoted to the end times, it’s understandable that people wonder “what’s next?” If you’re thinking about an “after” life, it’s only natural to ask where it might be spent (Nehemiah 9:6). Heaven is imagined as many different things… a place floating in space – “up there” – just beyond the clouds; a place where a chorus of angels welcome new arrivals with a trumpet fanfare; a place where all dogs (and perhaps a few cats) go; a place where streets are paved with gold; a place where the dearly departed watch and wait for us to join them; a place filled by blinding white light. No matter how you might view it, you don’t have to dream it (2 Peter 3:13). God sent heaven to earth in the person of His Son, Jesus, whose presence here brings hope and peace to all who believe. Christ makes our current life complete and offers the promise of an eternal life in a new heaven and earth without death, pain, suffering, tears and sorrow (Mark 13:31). We can’t begin to fathom what heaven might look like, but we will recognize it immediately. Give your life to Him, turn from your sin and He will lift you up… where you belong.