Thinking about Heaven (2)
'Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.' Colossians 3:2 NIV
Gary Larson captured a common misconception of Heaven in one of his Far Side cartoons. In it a man with angel wings and a halo sits on a cloud, doing nothing. A caption reads: 'Wish I'd brought a magazine.'
How come we talk so little about Heaven? Why has it fallen off our radar screens? Listen: '[Satan] began to curse God, His name, the place where He lives, and all those who live in Heaven' (Revelation 13:6 GNT).
Satan bad-mouths three things: (1) God's person (2) God's people (3) God's place - Heaven. After being evicted from Heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15), it must be maddening for him to know we're now entitled to the beautiful home he was kicked out of. What better way for him to attack us than to whisper lies about the place Paul tells us to set our minds on? If we believe his lie we'll set our minds on this life, not the next. And we won't be motivated to take others with us.
CS Lewis writes , 'The Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles...who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth - precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world, that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in", aim at earth and you will get neither.'
SoulFood: Jer 45-48, Matt 6:9-18, Ps 110, Pro 15:8-9
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