"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1150 Days of Heaven by Randy Alcorn is a small taste of his book Heaven. His website describes it this way:
“If you've always thought of Heaven as a realm of disembodied spirits, clouds, and eternal harp strumming, you're in for a wonderful surprise! God has put eternity in our hearts. Now Randy Alcorn brings eternity to light in 50 inspiring and thought-provoking mediations that will forever change the way you think about the spectacular new universe that awaits us!”
It’s written in a daily dose format, which makes it easy to read or discuss in a small group setting. Randy gives a beautiful glimpse of what heaven could be. We don’t know for sure if all the things we hope for will be in heaven, but we do know that Jesus promised to go and prepare a place for us and it will definitely be more incredible than the best place on earth.
Randy pointed out, “Tragically, many Christians store up most of their treasures on Earth. So every day that moves them closer to death moves them farther from their treasures. They end up backing into eternity, heading away from their treasures, clinging to a fallen world that hasn’t been especially kind to them.”
Last summer I took the book with me when I went to visit my family and my grandmother read the book during my week visit. She loved it and said that it gave her a hunger for heaven. I must agree. Randy shared this: “Do you ever feel like you have passed your peak? That your best days are behind you, and what’s ahead is all in decline? If you know Jesus, you are not past your peak. In fact, the further you drop from your earthly peak, the closer you get to Heaven. Death is the doorway to see Christ, who has defeated death and will swallow it up. Therefore, paradoxically, to be headed toward death is to be headed in the right direction.”
If we spend time thinking of the promise of heaven it will encourage us to become more like Jesus and to let go of some of our earthly endeavors. In his book Randy said, “When I meditate on Jesus and my future in Heaven, sin is unappealing. It’s when my mind drifts from that person and that place that sin seems attractive. Thinking of Heaven leads inevitably to pursuing holiness. Our high tolerance for sin testifies to our failure to prepare for Heaven.”
I encourage you to read this book or if you have more time read Heaven. Don’t forget to stop by Randy’s blog and leave a comment on his post regarding the Heaven book giveaway and you will and have a chance to win the book. The deadline to enter the Heaven giveaway is Friday, April 25, and three randomly drawn winners will be announced in a blog post on Monday, April 28.
"Heaven should affect our activities and ambitions, our recreations and friendships, and the way we spend our money and time. If I believe I'll spend eternity in a world of unending beauty and adventure, will I be content to spend all my evenings playing video games or staring at games shows, sitcoms, and ball games? Even if I keep my eyes away from impurities, how much time will I want to invest in what ultimately doesn't matter?"
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