I just listened to a video of the Kingsmen gospel quartet singing “I just stopped by on my way home.” It was a reminder that the closer I get to the end of my life here, the more I realize how temporary this life is and how precious is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (Hebrews 13:14) The gift of eternal life is not just a path to heaven some day; it is a journey with God that begins the minute we accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and begin to live with His Spirit within us. It is the Holy Spirit who guides us every step of the way. I have been on this spiritual journey for nearly 65 years now. I thank God that this world is not my final destination. God gives us His joy here and now, but it is only a shadow of the complete joy we will experience when we arrive home to live with Him.
I have mentioned before that after my wife died, I found peace at night by “performing a concert” of recitations, hymns and gospel songs before bed time. My old dogs seemed to find it relaxing too, but now it is just the Lord and me. I have noticed that lately nearly all of the songs and recitations are about heaven. One hymn in particular is “When we all get to heaven”. It takes me back to the church in St. Louis where I worshipped with my parents and then with my bride. When someone would answer the invitation to come forward and accept Christ, the entire congregation would file past congratulating them on their decision. That hymn is one of the songs we would sing as we moved along in line. It brings tears of joy to my eyes to think that nearly all of those precious people, including my parents and wife, have already arrived there, experiencing the words of that old hymn for real. “Sing the wondrous love of Jesus. Sing His mercy and His grace. In the mansions bright and blessed, He’ll prepare for us a place. Onward to the prize before us, soon His beauty we’ll behold. Soon the pearly gates will open and we shall tread the streets of gold. When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we will sing and shout the victory.”
Forgive me for becoming overly spiritual in my perspective for this blog post. It’s not that I’m in a rush to travel on past this life with my current brothers and sisters in Christ; it’s just that I am ready, whenever it is time, to continue my journey to my eternal home to reunite with all of my other friends and family; joining them in a song of praise before God’s throne.