When Harps and Clouds Look Pathetic

I was just thinking about this the other day and wanted to record my thoughts.

Heaven.

I did not understand heaven well until 2006 when I read "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn during the digressing health and resulting death of my dad. I was one of those people who thought it involved singing hymns for eternity. I don't know how I made it through with such a small view of eternity let alone, a small view of God himself. I'm thankful though that I had resolved that if that was what I was going to do for ions, that God would make it my greatest joy and satisfaction. Imagine my joy to learn that he had so much in store for us!

So, heaven. What will we do? Randy talks about how we will work in heaven and when I read that chapter title I thought "what!?". Work was not my idea of eternal bliss either. Then, I read the chapter. This is not from it, I read it years ago, I just mention it because it's related and produced from a better understanding developed from reading it.

Work.

Think of jobs.

Think of jobs that WON'T be necessary on the New Earth.

Police Men, Soldier, Lawyer, Doctor, Nurse, Detective, Bodyguard, Nutritionist, Health Instructor, Trainer, Inspector, Garbage Man, Grocer, Salesman, Tax man, Accountants, Maid, Pharmacist, Physical Therapist, Plastic Surgeon, Crisis Counselors, Social workers, Physiologist, and on and on. In fact, I'd love to hear some others think of that we won't have.

SO, if you think of it what does that leave you? See, all these jobs give us a sense of purpose and justice here because we are working to fix something. We are working to guide and navigate world under the influence of sin. People break the law, they fight over lands and government policies, they get sick, they need protection, they don't eat right, they get fat and diabetic, they can't figure out who did them wrong, they must purchase substance, they owe each other money, they are filthy, their bodies deteriorate and don't work right, they fight and the family is torn, relationships are torn, they can't have peace of mind, and this list goes on and on as well.

If you remove sin, you remove a lot of what is purposeful now but hard as well. So, I ask again what are you left with? Thinking about that made me so happy!

Artist, Foodies, builders, gardeners, leaders, crafters, sculptors, designers, decorators, explorers, teachers, researchers, writers, singers, jewelers, florist, gleaners, and on and on.

How do those occupations make you feel when you read them? For, me, it's thrilling. It's not work, it's each man doing what he loves for the common good of all without obligation.

• The artist will reflect the perfect beauty of the new creation for the joy of all.
• The cooks with delight in preparing gorgeous, healthy and the most flavorful foods ever eaten and completely good for the body. Their resources will be endless.
• The gardeners will work with good soil, weedless, smelling wonderful and producing perfectly.
• The leaders will guide groups of people for the Glory of God and with perfect unity w/o the element of human selfishness.
• The crafters will create for the joy of all, along with the sculptors.
• Decorators will make beautiful life ever more beautiful, again, with endless resources managed perfectly.
• The teachers will teach with sheer joy with knowledge that is exciting to share,and their students will be eager learners, ready to hear.
• The researchers will have the exciting job of eternity of learning, this would include scientist (no evolutionist here) discovering the universe without end. The joy of discovery will be ongoing excitement! Some will research the history of all time before, the mystery solvers!
• The writers will tell of the joy of God's world as it should be, they will have material forever that is inspiring and stimulating.
• The singers, OH, THE SINGERS! First of all, I think we will all be singers but there will be those who joy in it more than others. They will ASTOUND US ALL with the praises of God!!! They will be givers of joy to all make our souls almost burst!
• The jewelers. Oh, man, they will have a blast! The bible talks about the precious metals and gems in heaven. They will be the purist form of everything. There will be no end to their supply. The jewelers will create for the joy of sharing God's beauty, not for profit or vanity.
• The florist will have flowers we cannot imagine now. They will have them in plenty, huge and vibrant. Every dwelling could be filled with as many as they can handle. Who knows but that the flowers won't wither and fade as they do here!!??
• The gleaners will have that excitement that children have walking through an orchard longing to take the product of nature and share it. The produce of the new earth will make us drool I'm certain. Gathering it in baskets and thanking our God for his provision will be an endless joy to us.

Now, here is the kicker....

We all can do any of these if we wish! We can learn in all avenues, we can help in all ways and we will LOVE IT. Even the builders will have such great joy in making dwellings for others. Though I do think God has made us all with artistic bents that will have full throttle in heaven and we will tend to lean toward those. Heaven and the New Earth will be joyful work forever with no potholes of sin along the way.

I cannot stop feeling excited about this! I look so forward to it.

On top of that, God is in our midst! He is there to guide and be our eternal joy and pleasure. No one will be seeking gain, fighting over profit, hording or stealing.

We will be able to set out on any day and explore w/o fear of obstacle. Roaming is in our nature isn't it? Children long to roam, or I know I did. They long to glean from the land as they go, to pick the flowers, to build the forts, to paint the scenes, to make the necklaces from the shells, and on and on. Those desires are built in us for a reason!

People, it will be lovely, beyond lovely. It will be what we really have always wanted in our souls.

I just think it's fun to think about, AND...here is the kicker......

Nothing we can conjure up is NEAR what it will really be!

So, drop your droopy view of heaven and get the real upgrade. There is so much more than we really understand.