Today's Journey
An Eclipse of Heaven
May 18,2013
http://getmorestrength.org
“The city [heaven] does not need the sun or the moon to shine on
it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” Revelation 21:23
Solar eclipses are an amazing phenomenon. As the moon slides
between the earth and the sun, the sun’s brilliance gradually fades. Its
light grows dim, as if there’s a layer of dust on everything you see.
The effect is most dramatic on a bright cloudless day. While the eclipse
is in full force, it’s easy to forget that the sun is still there in
all its force and glory.
As amazing as a solar eclipse may be, more amazing is the fact that
as followers of Jesus we often live with heaven eclipsed in our hearts. I
don’t know what you think of when you think of heaven, but count on it,
heaven is a glorious destination and, as Paul described, because of
Christ’s presence there, it is far better than anything we could
experience here (Philippians 1:23).
But heaven’s glory and the excitement of getting there often fades in
the light of our dim view of heaven and the lure of lesser stuff here
on earth.
If the word heaven evokes images of an eternity lounging on
clouds, plucking out melodies on a harp, adjusting our halos, and
singing in a choir, then no wonder that the brilliance of heaven may be
going through an eclipse in your heart. It’s hard to muster a lot of
enthusiasm if we think that heaven will be boring! But believe me, the
God who died for you is not planning an eternity of boring assignments
for you!
If your thoughts about what heaven may be like aren’t distorted, then
you’re not necessarily off the hook. Heaven is often eclipsed in our
hearts by the lure and glitter of earth-side stuff. It’s easy to think
we can create heaven on earth by stacking up all that we think will make
us happy and comfortable. Only to find that the initial thrill of it
all quickly wears off as we disappointingly discover that there is no
such thing as heaven on earth.
So let’s dismiss our twisted thoughts about heaven and forget trying
to make heaven here on earth. Getting heaven in clear view starts by
focusing on what we do know to be true about heaven. Your first thoughts
no doubt are about streets of gold and gates of pearl. As spectacular
as that might be, they are not the draw of heaven. We get used to stuff
like that. The real excitement of heaven will be our eternal delight in
living in the unveiled presence of Jesus, our Savior and friend! No
matter how nice the place, it’s the people in the place who make the
place—and in this place it is the presence of God in the new heaven and
the new earth that will fill our hearts with delight and unfading joy.
It’s the way it was meant to be before sin raped the landscape of our
existence. It’s Eden all over again!
In this city there will be no power outages! Our text today tells us,
“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the
glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev. 21:23).
And this Lamb, who conquered death, guarantees that there will be no
more sorrow, death, or dying. In fact, He Himself will wipe away all our
tears (Rev. 21:4)!
De-eclipse heaven in your heart and live with something to look forward to!
YOUR JOURNEY…
- Are you curious about what heaven will really be like? Read the following passages to get a sneak preview.Revelation 4:1-11; 21:10-27; 22:1-5.
- Compare your thoughts of heaven with the truth of God’s Word. Create two columns on a piece of paper. In one column, brainstorm a list of prevalent thoughts about heaven. In the other column, write the truth about what the Bible says about that topic.
- Pray and ask the Lord to keep the light of heaven alive in your heart. Thank Him for the promise of heaven for all those who believe.
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