The Hope of Heaven

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.

(John 3:13 NIV)

Heaven. It seems to be a topic reserved mostly for funerals. Those who grieve are told to rejoice because their believing loved one is in Heaven. While that is good news, why is it that we wait until then to talk about the hope of Heaven? It’s been a month since my beloved grandmother went to be with the Lord, and ever since, I’ve been wondering a lot about her new Home. I heard that just a few months prior, she had visions of Heaven which she described as a beautiful and peaceful place. Grandma wanted to go there for a very, very long time and while we all miss her dearly, we’re glad she’s finally Home where she is in the presence of Jesus and reunited with her loved ones there.

As I dig more into this topic, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe if we talked more about Heaven, more people would want to go there. Because how we view the next life determines how we live this life. We learn more about Heaven from the One who came from there – Jesus. He is the Way to Heaven. My grandmother let Jesus guide her to Heaven. She believed in Him, followed His teachings and was looking forward to eventually being in His presence. Grandma wasn’t afraid to die. She was certain that when her life on earth ended, she would begin a new and better one in Heaven. And this is the comfort I derive from all of this – that she is alive and well taken care of by Almighty God. She continues to inspire my own faith in Jesus and journey to Heaven.