Jump Start # 1128

2 Corinthians 5:2 “For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from Heaven”

  The apostle Paul experienced what many moderns would call the “shopping mall syndrome.” You may have never heard that expression before, but you understand the feeling and the experience. You walk into a mall and you are not sure where the store is that you are looking for. You find a directory that shows the layout of the mall. A bright arrow points to where you are now. Where you are now is not where you want to be. You want to be in front of the store that you came for. Shopping mall syndrome. Wanting to be somewhere else. I’m not where I want to be. Paul left that way. He was here but he wanted to be in Heaven.

There are many experiences like that in life. Men can be that way at a wedding. They wish they were somewhere else. Many feel that way when they visit the doctor or dentist. Southwest Airlines used to run ads that showed people in embarrassing situations and then their slogan, “Wanna get away?” Some are that way when it comes to worship. You can tell. The look in the eyes, if they are even opened, says, “I wanna get away.”

For Paul, it was a longing to be with God. This Corinthian passage isn’t the only time Paul expressed this. He told the Philippians, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain…having the desire to depart and be with Christ.” He told the Romans, “we ourselves groan within ourselves…waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Paul had his eyes set on Christ and his course locked in to Heaven. That’s where he was headed and that’s where he wanted to be.

He wasn’t like the three year old who went kicking and screaming. It wasn’t, “well, if I have to go, it might as well be Heaven instead of Hell.” There was no looking back. There was not reluctance on his part. Let’s go. I want to go. Let’s get out of this place.

That type of thinking does a few things to us.

First, it keeps us from being bogged down with stuff that doesn’t matter. We can fuss about the minor things in life and lose sight of the big picture, we are headed to Heaven. Politics does this. I guess that’s why I’m not very interested in that subject. There is a place for politics, but so much of what is done, discussed and debated, really doesn’t matter. They major in minor things. They lost sight of the big picture. Having this Heavenly view and hope keeps stress at a minimum. Problems are temporary. Some day we’ll leave those all behind us.

Second, this heavenly view pushes us to work harder, better and faster. We only have so much time. We can spin our wheels and spend too much time in the huddle of life making plans that nothing gets done. Times wasting. Get to the point. Get after it. Soon, we are out of here. It makes us appreciate today. This is the day that I have. I must make it the best that I can.

Third, this heavenly view brings comfort. I have too many friends who are suffering with cancer now. I have no magical words. I pray every day for them. They are great people. They are wonderful Christians. It seems that the bad guys never get sick. Why don’t the terrorist ever get cancer? I hate to see my friends sick. I hate to know what they have to go through. Their faith is strong. They are courageous. Some day they will be done with all this stuff. The future is bright. The future is Heaven. There, not just for them, but for all of us who walk with the Lord, will be peace, joy and love. They will never feel bad again. What they are going through now will end. What all of us are going through will end, if we continue to walk with the Lord. The lonely heart…the broken heart…the heart that grieves…the heart that is disappointed…the heart that longs to do right and be right…there is comfort coming. God shall wipe away every tear. The tears caused by pain. The tears caused by sorrow. The tears caused by guilt. The tears caused by fear. Gone. Wiped clean. Wiped, not by the hand of an apostle. Not even by an angel. But God, Himself, shall wipe away every tear from our eyes. All tears.

Fourth, what this does, is get us serious about our walk with Christ. We are wanting to be in Heaven. We groan from within. It’s a deep longing. We want it. It won’t just happen. It doesn’t fall into our laps because we want it. We must do things. We must throw off the sins that entangle us. We must pull the weeds from our hearts that crowd out the word of God. We must remove our selves from places and people that are not spiritually profitable to us. We must watch our steps, out time, and our attitudes. We want to go to Heaven. It’s time to polish that soul. It’s time to shape up and get at it. This thought alone is all that is necessary to get a tired body out of bed and headed to the church house to worship God. Those that only have their big toe in the water of God don’t understand this. They attend when it’s convenient, and that generally means, when there is nothing better to do. Travel, shopping, sleeping in—for some, trump going to worship services.  Not so, for those who want to go to Heaven. They’ll put things on hold for God. They’ll drag those tired bodies after a twelve hour shift at the hospital to church first and then they’ll go to bed. They have a place that they want more than sleep, and that is the presence of God.

Longing for Heaven makes us clean up the junk in our hearts. Gossipy ways and thinking you’re better than others is tossed out. We need to be like Jesus. We want to be around Jesus. It makes us serious about our walk with Christ.

Paul longed for Heaven. How about you? Has it been a while since you’ve thought about Heaven? Does it only cross your radar when the preacher happens to mention it? I had a daughter that got married last year. I have a son who will be getting married next year. People who are soon to be married think, talk, plan and long for that wedding. It’s on their mind often, especially for girls. They read magazines about weddings. They look at wedding sites that give them ideas. They talk to friends about their weddings. You’d think they are getting married…and they are! Shouldn’t we be the same about Heaven? After a while our friends ought to say, “You really want to go there don’t you? It’s all you talk about.”

Paul longed for Heaven. I wish more of us did. Don’t you want to be there? Wish it was now, how about you?

Roger