“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3
On Easter, our guest Pastor David Ehlers opened his message with a question if we knew where we were going. He shared how seldom ‘men’ asked for directions when they were seemingly lost. Two stories came into my mind. Back in the day, possibly 35 years ago when my daughters were much younger, we happened to be at Bridgeport, NE visiting their maternal grandparents in the late spring. I had thought it might be a good idea to visit my daughter’s great grandparents graves in Big Springs, NE on the way back to Lincoln to give them a sense of their legacy. I asked my ex-wife for directions on where their stones were located and she replied ‘close to a tree’. We saw a lot of trees in that cemetery and thankfully I chose to start looking on the West side where the graves were more recent and we did find it on the south side near a tree.
The second story brought into my mind was the photo of houses on a hill west across a ravine from my apartment in Petionville, Haiti. These people didn’t have mail service when this photo was taken and probably still don’t. I don’t know what directions would have been given to find a particular house. No trees.
In the above passages from John, Jesus said that He was going to prepare a room in heaven for everyone who believes in Him. The Triune God who can create the universe with a few words has been taking 2,000 years to prepare an eternal home for you, great grandparents Linch, my ex-wife, my daughters, me and the people in those houses on the hill. How will we ever find our mansion?
We can’t begin to comprehend just how wonderful heaven will be for those who have made Jesus the Lord of their lives. But I do know this: if Our Heavenly created it, and Jesus prepared a place for us, then it’s a place of perfection, where we will joyfully be in the presence of God. And He wants you to be there. Jesus wants YOU to be there! He gave His life so you could be there.
However, going to heaven is not automatic. It is not a one and done deal. It’s not being born, pass go and collect $250, die and off to Heaven you go. God gives you the choice to love Him. He doesn’t force you to love Him, as if you were some sort of robot. He’s given you the freedom to choose Him. And we have been given the Great Commission from Jesus to tell others about the home in Paradise where we are going and He wants them there too. And where you are giving someone directions on how to get to Paradise; point them to the Cross of Christ. Look for that tree.
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay