Embracing the Promise of Heaven

This is an excerpt from Mature Living Magazine.

Chances are strong to very strong that you’ve endured some things in life. In fact, with each passing year, life might seem like a synonym for endurance — by pure necessity. The more life we live, the easier it is to relate to the second half of Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:21: “To die is gain.” We get it — life on earth involves heartache and struggle. We know that spending eternity with Jesus in heaven is better than this. Hebrews 13:14 explains well what every person comes to know: “We do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.”

It is good and right to embrace the promise of heaven more acutely with each passing year.

At the same time, our call as believers is to endure in this city that will not endure, as long as we’re here. That’s why Paul began Philippians 1:21 with the words, “For me, to live is Christ.” That part seems to get harder as the days go by, doesn’t it? It’s not that we don’t want to live for Christ; it’s just that we’ve already endured a lot in the journey, and we’re tired.

In Hebrews 3:1 we find a simple but profound request: Consider Jesus. The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who had been faithful, but difficult circumstances had them thinking it might be better to just sit out the rest of the race. The author of Hebrews wrote to explain why that was a bad idea: Jesus is better. Hebrews is in the Bible for this very reason: God knew that whether from fatigue, trials, or crisis of belief, we need to be reminded of Christ’s incomparable worth so we should never stop pursuing growth and maturity in Him. If we are going to truly endure in living for Christ instead of merely getting by until the end, we need to embrace the message that Jesus is better too.

About six years ago, my dad was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which includes hallucinations and Parkinson’s-type mobility issues alongside the classic symptom of memory loss. As you can imagine, and maybe even relate, my mom and dad have come to a deeper understanding of what it means to really endure in Christ. They have lived for the Lord. They raised three children to know and follow Jesus. They have faithfully served their local church in numerous ways for more than 45 years. And they are now certainly looking forward to that heavenly city, but not without the intention of earthly effect.

Though it looks different than before, they have more race still to run. Dad can’t physically go to church, but he can tune in online, sing along in worship, listen to sermons, and be encouraged in his present circumstance. As his caregiver, mom can’t serve in many of the ways she has in the past. But she can work from home to prepare crafts for the Vacation Bible School her church leads each year in another country. She can begin each day in the study of God’s Word. She can open her home to neighbors and engage in those relationships as a disciple maker. As she waits for that heavenly city, she can pray earnestly for God’s kingdom to come on earth.

At every age and in every circumstance, God calls us to much more than simply getting to the other side of the struggle. He invites us to use that view of the coming victory of heaven to reorient life in the here and now. Hebrews 12:1-2 puts it like this: “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” We can face each day with endurance because Jesus is better.