Heaven

I'm going flying with XB today. I've been wanting to go all summer . . ever since we started talking again and I learned he had his pilot's license. I've always wanted to see my town from above . . especially the lake. My grandpa used to own planes and sadly, that is actually how he lost his life. Uptown Grandma thinks it was vertigo, but no one really knows. It's no surprise that she doesn't want me flying with XB. Neither does Dad. Is it bad that I'm just not telling them? I talked to XB last night about meeting up and whatnot and he said, "You know we're gonna crash and die, right?" I said, "I'm ready." He kinda grunted doubtfully and said, "So you've done everything you wanna do, huh?" And I just said, "Anything I haven't done I'll be able to do in Heaven, so I'm not worried about it." It sounded a little crazy to him, as it would to most people, I suppose, so he kinda laughed like he didn't know what I was talking about. I told him, "Well, it's biblical. It's not like I'm going to be floating around on a cloud playing a harp." Not wanting to discuss anything of a spiritual nature, he said, "Ok, ok, we're not going to crash and die."

Our mini-discussion on Heaven got me to thinking about the page of "Heaven" (by Randy Alcorn) that I'd read yesterday. The book has been a slow reader because it's so full of information. What I love about it is that the author backs up what he says with Scripture and if something is merely his own speculation, he will state so, or just say, "I think, because . . " Reading this book has completely changed my thoughts about Heaven. To be honest, I was never really excited to go. How many people think of Heaven as some far-off place that is completely foreign and super boring and void of so many things they now love and enjoy? Probably all of us! Because XB doesn't have relationship with the Lord, our perspectives are so opposite. He is living for the moment, taking pleasure in temporary things that sadly will only lead to death in the end. Even those that know Jesus can often develop a "only live once" mentality. The following paragraph from the book really stuck out to me:

"The lack of an eternal perspective sets us up not only for discouragement but, also for sin. We tell ourselves, If I don't experience an intimate relationship now, I never will. Or If I don't have the means to go there, I never will. Then we feel desperate, tempted to take shortcuts to get what we want (what we think we want). We're tempted toward fornication, dishonesty, or theft. Or we live in regret, envy, and greed. But if we understand that we'll actually live in a new heavens and New Earth, a new universe full of opportunities, then we can forgo certain pleasures and experiences now, knowing we can enjoy them later. It's by giving up various pleasures, possessions, and power now that we obtain them in the next world. *If* we're Christians [and have a personal relationship with Jesus], we get two opportunites to live on Earth. This first one is but a dot. It begins, it ends. It's brief. The second opportunity will be a line, extending on forever. We all live in the dot. But if we're smart, we'll be living for the line."