"My" idea of Heaven

Have you ever been to a circus or carnival? You have animals doing tricks, clowns to make you laugh, acrobats amazing you with their high flying stunts, lots of food and drink to fill you up, bright lights and loud noises to keep your attention and much more. There is usually something for everybody. I am thinking about the circus because of an old movie I saw on television yesterday afternoon. The movie was released in 1933, and is called The Circus Queen Murder. As the title gives away, the movie revolves around the efforts of a detective trying to solve a murder that has taken place at a traveling circus. In one scene, the main character says to the leading lady, and I paraphrase, "My idea of heaven is a place where nobody knows your name, nobody bothers you and there are no telephones." My first thought was that this guy needs a vacation because that is what he is describing. His version of heaven sounds more like a beer commercial for Corona then it does heaven. With that said, it made me wonder about how so many people have various definitions of what they believe heaven to be. Most of these descriptions of heaven revolve around whatever fleshly desires we have at a given moment. We usually think of the most pleasing thing to us and call it heaven. Nobody ever questions these visions because everybody wants their own private heaven to call their own regardless of whether it is reality or not.

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." Revelation 22: 1-5

In his album entitled, Better Dayz, released some five years after his death, the late rapper Tupac Shakur has a son titled Thugz Mansion. Thugz Mansion is Shakur's metaphor for his idea of heaven. In one part of the song he says the following to describe what is going on in his heaven.

Dear momma don't cry, your baby boy's doin good/ Tell the homies I'm in heaven and they ain't got hoods/Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last night, it had me shook/Drippin peppermint Schnapps, with Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke/Then some lady named Billie Holiday/Sang sittin there kickin it with Malcolm, 'til the day came

Now, no disrespect intended, but Tupac's vision of heaven sounds a lot like what I was doing before I came to know the Lord. I used to go to night clubs, listen to music and drink alcohol. I didn't have the pleasure of being serenaded by music legends or to hang out with historical icons, but everything else was pretty much the same. But, I didn't, for one second, mistake what I was doing for heaven. And, on many occasions, the environment seemed more like hell as the late nights drug on, the alcohol kicked in and the environment devolved into various forms of sin and debauchery. No doubt, for many, Tupac's idea of heaven will conjur up pleasant thoughts for those who enjoy his music and the music of the individuals he mentions in the song. However, his idea of heaven doesn't vary much from the gentlemen in the old movie. Both of them describe heaven to be a place where what they desire most is taking place. One desires peace and quiet. The other wants to listen to music and have some drinks. Both of them find their origins in the flesh and both describe a place where they can rest from whatever it is that stresses them out the most. But, whether your idea of heaven fits into the above descriptions or you have one of your own, if it doesn't line up with the reality of what has been revealed to us in God's Word, the Bible, then your idea of heaven may be as close as you get to the real thing. Heaven, as described in the Bible is a place without the curse of sin. A place where there is no night. And a place where the children of God, born again believers in Jesus Christ, will reign with Him forever and ever. Yes, there will not be any telephones, so the man in the movie would get his wish. However, Tupac might be a bit surprised by what type of music is being sung to the Lord and the beverages to choose from to quench your thirst.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14: 1-3

The two examples I have given about what heaven is to many people are evidence of how the average person has a misconception about heaven. There seems to be this idea that our lives here on earth are a test and all one has to do to gain entrance into heaven is live and die. Simply because one believes life is difficult for them they invent a version of heaven that only exists in their imagination. And they make up who is in heaven with them and what will be going on in heaven. Strange as it seems, there is something missing in all this; God. God is the creator of heaven and earth and, regardless of what our imaginations tell us, He is the One to decide who gets to enter heaven. We know that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6). Therefore, the only people who have a reservation in heaven are the children of God who have accepted the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as their only means by which to attain heaven. And when Jesus Christ returns, He is coming to gather those who are waiting for them. If the man in the movie and Tupac have accepted Christ as their savior then they will be gathered up by Jesus and taken to heaven to be with God. Otherwise, their idea of heaven will be the only heaven they will ever experience. Jesus said, "apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5)." That includes entering into Heaven. Simply having a rough life, and a desire to escape from it, does not qualify you for entrance into heaven, real or imagined. My prayer is that your rough life, if you consider it to be rough, will drive you into the waiting arms of Jesus Christ and His offer of eternal life in Him. Otherwise, your heaven will only be in your imagination and your destination will not be something you equate to heaven.