Preparation

I Cor. 2:9, "......No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."

It has been said that "Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people." We know that not a single one of us goes to heaven on our own merit but only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ as we acknowledge our sinfulness and accept Him as Savior. But do you suppose some people will enjoy heaven more than others? In Dante's Inferno there are levels of hell according to the amount of evil men have committed on earth. Do you imagine there might also be degrees of pleasure in heaven according to how we have lived our earthly lives? Let's think about it for a minute.

Certainly the closer we walk with Christ on earth, the greater is our anticipation of heaven. Do you suppose when we gather now with other Christians and sing the great old hymns and the choruses of praise that we are preparing ourselves to rejoice in the hallelujah chorus in heaven? Do you think that those who have pondered the deep mysteries of God will be the most excited when those mysteries are revealed and we know in heaven even as God knows us now? Who do you think will be the most thrilled at meeting the saints of God through the ages, such men as Abraham, Moses, David, the apostles, Paul? Will it be those who have known them best through the Scriptures while on earth? And as we bow before the throne of awesome, almighty God and gaze upon the nail prints in Jesus' hands, will this not be an ecstatic experience for those who have loved them best? Our present Christian life is an opportunity for us to prepare our hearts for the wonders our gracious, loving Heavenly Father has prepared for us.