I n one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read, The Journey of Desire , John Eldredge points out that it is impossible to hope for that which we do not desire. Do you long for heaven, or does it sound like a place of total boredom? You may rightly ask, “How can I desire a place I’ve never seen or been?”—Let me address this question if I may. I truly believe that if you learn to desire heaven, then you will hope for heaven, and it will change the course of your life; not to mention affecting how you view life itself. To start with, visualize the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen. For me it was the summer of 1978. I’d just driven across western Kansas and eastern Colorado in rain. As I approached Denver, the storm passed, and there before me were the snow- capped Colorado Rockies. It was near sunset and the air had that fresh luminous quality. The sky seemed to be filled with every shade of purple, lavender, pink, peach, and orange you can imagine, capped with a bright red sun just above the mountain peaks. And to top it off, behind me, where the storm had just passed, was a brilliant rainbow and some geese flying south. It was so incredible that I pulled off the highway and stared. But, do you know what? Within twenty-five minutes it was gone and I felt so sad.—“If it could have just lasted longer! If only I could have, somehow, entered into the beauty and stayed.” Or, have you ever been to a music concert that is your type of music, whatever that might be, and for a brief while it seems as though you are suspended in time? But then what happens?The curtain drops, the lights come on, and it is over. If you’re like me, a wave of sadness often hits.—Again I feel, “If it could have just continued and not stopped!” Or, do you recall your first feelings of romantic love and how wonderfully exciting they were? When this person would walk past, your heart would go pitter- patter. Do you still have those wonderful feelings?—Probably not. And while you may still deeply love whomever you’re with (if you are with someone), I’m guessing those feelings of romantic love have diminished. He may snore and not pick up after himself. Maybe she can’t cook and wakes up in a bad mood. Or, have you ever seen someone’s face and been drawn like a magnet to it? You could seemingly stare into the beauty of that face, into the beauty of those eyes
of love and acceptance, forever. And then what happens? The person gets up and leaves, or passes you by, and a knife pierces your soul. Well, what would it be like if you could live some place where the beauty never fades, where the music never ends, where the feelings of passionate love, excitement, and adventure never diminish, and where for all eternity you could stare into the face of perfect love; the face of God?—You have just described your desire for heaven. You see, ever since you were born, God has planted the longings for heaven in your heart. The aches, the longings, the deep desires, the passions, the thirst for adventure and acceptance, your pining for the good ole’ days; they all point in one direction, and it isn’t toward earth, nor to the past, but toward God and heaven. Like the warm aromas coming from your mother’s or grandmother’s kitchen when you were a child, we only get tantalizing whiffs of heaven now. Beauty and the glory of nature, as C.S. Lewis says, are “only the first sketch.” Paul, in I Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Listen to your heart, and your heart will tell you that these longings are true. Whether you realized it or not, you’ve longed for God and heaven all your life. The God-substitutes you’ve turned to in order to fill these longings are nothing more than man-made idols or destructive addictions. They promise much but deliver little. There is no substitute for God, which is why, in love, God claims all. He is the only game in town. Not to choose God is to choose death. One thousandyears fromnowitwill notmatterwhether you lived ina shackor amillion dollar mansion, whether you drove an old used Chevy or new Porsche, or if you wore the latest designer clothes, and had the best education money could buy. What will matter is: “Did you knowGod?” (See: Matthew 7:21-23). Tomiss knowing God is to lose everything. A person once asked, “How much money do you think Bill Gates will leave when he dies?” His friend responded, “All of it!” One of the hardest self-evident realities of life, is that we will lose everything physical at death.—We can only take with us that which is eternal in nature, the spiritual and the relational. Jim Elliot, a missionary who was martyred for his faith, may have said it best, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” d
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