Heaven

Something to think about

Many people seem to live on this earth as if this is their permanent home – but it isn’t! Like the people spoken about in this chapter, we are just strangers and pilgrims on this earth. We are merely passing through, because we belong somewhere else. The Bible is quite clear that God has prepared a heavenly home for us, and that our lives should be directed towards getting ready for that heavenly city.

We clearly need to live wholeheartedly on this earth and give the best of our efforts and attention to all that we do. But we also need to keep our eye on the eternal dimension, which gives the real significance to what we do day by day.

The key point about the strangers and pilgrims that we meet in Hebrews 11 is that they lived by faith, and that meant that life had a clear sense of direction. They knew that the God in whom they had faith would always be with them and would lead them securely through this life and then in the life to come.

Look at the obituaries and death notices in a newspaper and spend a few moments reading about those who have recently died. Thank God for their lives and remind yourself that you need to live each day with the confident hope of a heavenly home.

Lord, we confess that we get so immersed in all the demands and activities of life that we often forget that our lives are temporary. Thank you that you have prepared a heavenly home for us, and we pray that we may live our lives with that wonderful thought in our minds.

We thank you for those who we know who have lived their lives by faith, and who have now passed to their eternal home. We thank you for the vitality and strength of their lives and for all the ways in which our lives were enriched by theirs.

Help us to live this and every day in the light of eternity.
We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Adapted from a contribution by the Rev Jonathan Edwards, former General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.