Sunday, 7 April 2019

Heaven: Boring or Exciting?

My granddaughter, Hope, enjoying the snow.



I dreamed last night someone asked me why I would want to follow God. I said to him, “Imagine the best day you ever had with people you love. That is what God wants for all people. We will be one big happy family enjoying each other, enjoying God, having interesting work to do, eating wonderful food, getting to know the animals, traveling, sightseeing, singing, playing musical instruments, gaining knowledge,

One of the best days I’ve ever had was when our whole family packed a picnic and we drove up into the mountains to a park. There was an abandoned gold mine there, an old train trestle no longer in use, a river flowing by, and trees everywhere. I remember looking at my children and grandchildren and thinking, “I must always remember this beautiful day.”

The river was deep so my husband and son-in-law were jumping from the trestle. We walked over to the abandoned mine and found some rocks with gold dust on them, we walked among the trees and saw a large woodpecker. Simple things, but so very wonderful because we were all together discovering this park and enjoying the happiness of the children who were excited by everything they saw.

One of my sisters, who has a chronic illness and cannot work, told me she thought heaven might be boring. She couldn’t imagine having fun there. I said, “Look at what we are doing this minute. We are playing video games. We are enjoying ourselves, aren’t we?” She agreed we were. “I said, “If we can enjoy playing these simple games, I think the God of the universe will have interesting things for us to do.”

My daughter once told me she hadn’t wanted to be a Christian because she thought heaven would be boring. But now that she knows she will meet her deceased son in heaven, she can’t wait to get there.

I think the thoughts of being bored in heaven come from going to church and being bored as a kid, or even an adult, and perhaps by being a party/sex/drink/drugs lover. You know that won’t be going on in heaven so it turns you off.

 But all those thoughts show a lack of imagination. If people will spend a lot of money to go see the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone Park for two weeks, then I think we will all enjoy heaven. Think about how most people love snorkeling or just swimming at a beautiful beach. All the things we love about nature will surround us in heaven. And the more we get to know God, the more we will enjoy his company. I’m sure the angels will be interesting to meet and get to know.

As the Bible says, we have no idea what awaits us in heaven.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

1 Corinthians 2:9