Do You Really Believe in Heaven?

My husband and I lived in Fort Worth when we were first married, and we attended Southcliff Baptist Church. We have wonderful memories of the amazing people we met during our five years there. One of our older members was a gifted author and speaker. When he taught about our sinful body, he called it our earth suit. Listening to his teaching made me ready to exchange my earth suit for my heavenly garments. Remember, the Apostle Paul’s vocation was tentmaker, and in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul calls our body our earthly tent. He paints the picture of how we groan and are burdened and long to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. When we get weary of waiting for our heavenly dwelling, we need to remember that the Holy Spirit is our deposit, our guarantee that God will keep his promise to take us to heaven someday.

Our goal is to please God, whether we are here in our earth suits or whether we at home in heaven with Christ. Because Christ died for us, we live for him, not for ourselves. The Bible assures us that we will each stand before the throne of God and be judged for our deeds, whether good or bad. Paul ends this chapter with the explanation that it is our job to invite everyone to restore their relationship to God; it is the ministry of reconciliation he talks about.

Do you truly believe that Jesus has reserved your place in heaven? Is He really building your mansion in the sky? Do you think about it every day, and are you making certain you have everything in order for Him to call you home? Your actions demonstrate what you actually believe. If you really believe in the promise of heaven, you will also take more seriously the ministry of reconciliation. If you really believe in heaven, you will do everything you can to make sure the people you encounter know they are invited to join you there.