Dear friends,
I experienced another birthday anniversary last week. There was no major celebration, but Alex took me to the cafe for breakfast, and my beautiful wife prepared a tasty lunch. Then, of course, there were a few cards in the mail, along with many Facebook greetings from friends. All in all, it was a good day.
Some time ago, I saw a comment that said something like this: It’s too bad there aren’t visiting hours in heaven. This brings several images to my mind, but really, how could this possibly be true? It is a nice sentiment, but “it ain’t gonna’ happen”. I know there are times we would like to visit those who have gone on before us, but let’s face it, there can be no such thing.
First, the only way anyone gets to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ own words, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Second, for anyone to enter heaven, they have to die. In the words of the old song, “I’ll never get out of this world alive.” The Bible says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that to face judgment. The judgment determines a person’s eternal destination. For the believer, that destination is heaven. For the unbeliever, the one who rejects God’s salvation, the destination is hell.
Thirdly, even if there were visiting hours in heaven, who would want to come back to this old fallen, sin sick world? You would want to stay there, because that is where Jesus is.
Last, but not least, if our reason to visit heaven is to see our loved ones, we are wanting to go there for the wrong reason. God gave us memories for a purpose. It’s because there are no visiting hours in heaven. Those memories are how we visit our loved ones.
When we enter heaven’s gates, it is forever.
Waiting to see Jesus,
Pastor Jerry
sandhillspastor 