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Recently my wife and I celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary. The day before she had started getting sick. The day of our anniversary we sat on the couch watching TV. Dressed in her most comfortable robe and wearing a stocking cap, she looked at me smiled and said, “Not exactly how I planned our twenty-fifth.” As we looked over the past twenty-five years we knew there were a few things we would have done differently but all and all we have had a good twenty-five years.

Thinking about our marriage made we wonder about our first twenty-five years in Heaven. I know we will spend time worshipping God. However I believe in Heaven we will have time to rest. Perhaps sitting on Heaven’s front porch we will stop and think about the things we could have done differently while here on Earth. Once we realize our eternal life has already begun and catch a vision of the other side of eternity, our lives will take on new meaning.

The first thing we will probably think about is the time we spent with God. Whether it is the time we spend in church, or our daily quiet time with God, it is the quality of those hours that will matter the most. We will also realize in Heaven how things that we thought no one noticed, God noticed and are counted as if they were plastered on a billboard beside the road. Things like giving someone a cup of water or a few minutes of our day. Also how we treated people and the impression our life made on them.

Everyone looks forward to their retirement, the day that there will be no more time clocks to punch and no more deadlines to meet. However we should plan for our years in eternity as well. In Hebrews the Bible tells us the riches of Heaven are greater than those of ancient Egypt. Today we would say they are greater than all of the wealth of Wall Street. Just as we can only imagine what we will do when we see Jesus, we can only imagine what our rewards will be. I don’t think our rewards will be a fluffier cloud. One thing we can be sure of is that the rewards will be worth it all. Our greatest reward will be seeing Jesus, the one who died for us. We know that there is a better place, a place where there are no tears, death, or pain.

As we plan for our “streets of gold years.” We might ask, “Why didn’t God just lay it all out for us?” Tell us the returns of Heaven’s mutual funds? Let us know that our mansion will be worth millions of dollars. We will have property on the River of Life, be over X number of people and have X number of servants. Then we could make a decision.

If we knew what Heaven is like, the choice would be so obvious. God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight. Just as he gave us a free will because he did not want robots, he gave us a hint of what’s in store for us because it is not about the rewards it is about Christ.

In Heaven we will be so happy to be reunited with loved ones. We will be so thrilled to be with Christ, the one that died for us, and so in awe of God’s presence. However there might be a slight pause to think of how much more we could have done. The key is to realize how much we can do now. Then in Heaven, not only will Christ say, “Well done thy good and faithful servant.” But while we sit on Heaven’s front porch and drink a glass of water from the River of Life, a smile will come across our face as realize we gave it our all.

Copyright 2005 by Danny Woodall