Looking Forward To Heaven

When I toured the Westminster Abbey, I was amazed at its beauty. It has unbelievable architecture. It has high, high ceilings with intricate carvings on the walls. The place is so beautiful, it almost takes your breath away. Marble statues are throughout the Abbey. The stone floors and stain glass windows do not reveal its true age-over a thousand years old. Human hands made this place.

And then I thought of heaven. A place I look forward to going to. If the Westminster Abbey can be so beautiful, so intricate, what will heaven be like? The God who created the the earth and you and me, has created heaven. Can you imagine the unbelievable beauty?

There will be streets of gold. I can’t imagine that. Streets of gold? The structure we walk on, will be made of gold? That shiny, pretty metal we wear in tiny, tiny amounts, will now be the element, heaven’s streets will be made of. Now, we only know of asphalt: ugly, gray, dirty asphalt.

The gate surrounding heaven will be made of pearls. Imagine a gate made of white, smooth, beautiful pearls. Thus the phrase, “the pearly white gates.” Now you know where it comes from.

When we toured the Abbey, people automatically talked in whispers. It just seemed fitting. People walked slowly and reverently. And this, is just a man made structure that doubles as a tomb for famous people and royals.

What I look forward to most, though, is the tranquility and peace that will be in heaven. He says He will wipe every tear from our eyes. Imagine that? God, Himself, will wipe every tear from our eyes. That’s an image of comfort. An image of care – of peace.

We all go one of two places when we die. Either heaven or hell. No matter what you did in life, how you acted, that won’t be the criteria for getting into heaven. There is only one criteria: accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. You can’t be nice enough to get into heaven. You can’t be a huge donor to charities. You can’t have sacrificed your time or money. None of that is enough. None of us measure up. The great equalizer, death, comes, and we need to have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. He is the only criteria. Nothing else we’ve ever done in our lives matters. Only that.

I remember a friend of mine, came to know the Lord as a young adult. She had grown up Catholic, so had spent a lot of time doing good deeds, thinking she was earning her way to heaven. When she heard the gospel for the first time, she said she got mad. She was mad because of all the wasted time she had spent, doing good deeds and none of that mattered. Jesus Christ paid the price, and you only have to accept Him.

I love that story of my friend. Her honest reaction to finding out everything she did was worthless. We can try and be the best person in the world, but none of it will ever matter. It is only about Jesus Christ and did you accept Him or not? That’s it. That’s the only criteria.

I pray, that if you are reading this, you have accepted Him. If not, it’s never too late.