A PERSONAL PRAYER
Gracious God,
Someone asked me yesterday, as we stood at the graveside, “how are people welcomed into heaven? Are they greeted by St. Peter at the gate? Is it Jesus himself? Or is that a dumb question?”
Not a dumb question, of course. It is a question we all have. But I had no good answer for him. All I could tell him is that the Scripture says we are “with the Lord,” seeing him “face to face” and “in Paradise.” And I could tell him that while we are running the race here, the saints in the church triumphant are cheering us on. There are more specifics in the Bible about the general resurrection we anticipate in the future when the world is made right, but about heaven, not so many. I wish you would give me the answer so I could share it with him.
But maybe the reason there are no more specifics is because being with you is enough. Being fully in your presence will satisfy the hungry heart so that we will never be hungry again. Being fully in your presence will scratch every itch and heal every wound. Being fully in your presence will assuage every fear and calm every anxiety. And if we are with you, and those we love are with you, then we are there together with them. What more do I need to know?
God, give me a glimpse right now of your son Jesus so that I might keep my eyes on him, and have just a foretaste of what being in his glorious presence might be like so that I might experience just a bit of that satisfaction, healing, and peace. Amen.