Why Focus On Heaven?

I’ve never liked the expression ‘Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re of no earthly good’. I don’t think it agrees with the Bible which says ‘Set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth.’ Col 3:2

I can see where people might get that idea from, because if you decide to go off and live in a cave and meditate on heaven for the rest of your life, then you wouldn’t be much good to anyone. But I think the likelihood of that happening is incredibly small, especially if you are reading and applying the rest of the Bible!

I think instead that setting our hearts and minds on heaven makes us use our time more usefully down here, as well as benefiting us in lots of other ways.

It gives us hope and comfort

When we are struggling with the same sin, it is encouraging to remember that one day there will be no more sin. When we are going through pain and sorrow it is comforting to think about the day when there will be no more weeping or pain.

Even as I write this I am saddened and praying for someone who is very ill. But one day all suffering will be gone, and I hang on to this thought often.

It helps us keep going

When I am on my diet I do so much better if I set a goal, and when you run a race it helps you to keep going when you can see the finish line. In the same way when we remember that one day we will finish, rest and be at peace it can give us the strength we need to keep going, through trials that seem like they will never end.

We will see Jesus

I asked my children recently, ‘Who do you most want to see when you get to heaven?’ They went through a list of all the famous people in the Bible. Then Caleb said, ‘But most of all, I want to see Jesus!’

I think Jesus can sometimes seem too far away to understand, but if you think about it, He died for us, He loves us, He understands our deepest thoughts and has compassion for us. Who else do you know like that? He is our best friend, and I think when we see Him we will be overcome with joy to actually be beside Him and talk to Him face to face.

It helps us to live for God

One day we will stand before God and have to give an account of what He has given us and what we have done with it. That has always been a fearful prospect to me – there is no-one who I respect and fear more than the God who made the heavens and the earth.

With all my heart I want to hear Him say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’. When I think of this it makes me determined to please Him and to do the best I can in what He has called me to do.

It is exciting to look forward to

Can you imagine planning a holiday to a country that is like ours but much better, that has only loving people, where nothing bad ever happens, where you don’t have to worry about anything? Then imagine that holiday being the rest of your life, in fact forever. And in that country are all the Christians you know, as well as those who have passed away and those from the Bible.

We can go and ask Samson why on earth he told Delilah about his hair, we can go ask Paul all the doctrinal questions we ever wanted to know, we can ask Enoch what it was like to walk with God, and Stephen what it was like to see heaven open… oh wait, we’ll be there so we won’t need to!

We will be rewarded

There are lots of references in the Bible to treasures in heaven and how we should work for them rather than for earthly treasures. So that means we will be rewarded in heaven, which is exciting. We know that God will keep His promises, and whatever it is it will be better than treasure here, because these will all burn!

Dr. Robert Jaffray was a missionary who suffered in the hands of the Japanese in World War II and died two weeks before the war ended. In his last report he exhorted his fellow workers:

Quote from p154 of ‘Last Words of Saints and Sinners’, by Herbert Lockyer 1969