The shoeshine boy was working feverishly on a pastor’s shoes, when the pastor asked the young man, “Do you want to go to Heaven?” The young man replied, “No sir!” The pastor was certain the lad must have misunderstood his question, so be asked again, “Young lad, do you want to go to Heaven?” Again the boy said, “No sir!” So the pastor tried one more time, “Don’t you want to go to heaven when you die?” The boy said, “Oh, yes, I want to go when I die! I thought maybe you were getting up a load for today!”
A pastor once friend said to me, “I’m tired, discouraged, burned out, and a bit sick, I wish I could just die and go to be with Jesus today!” My response to that statement was then and still is, “If I go out of this world at one-hundred-years old, I will go out kicking and pleading, “I’m not through yet, there are still too many uncompleted things on my spiritual bucket list!” I’m looking forward to going to Heaven, but I don’t want to rush it! Heaven is a place we all want to see! Our eyes, minds and imaginations could never, in a million years, quite comprehend nor grasp it's encompassing beauty and the glory of that place! One day, those of us who are born-again Christians, will know this beauty, where all pain, suffering and tears will be absent! “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Pastors are often asked where Heaven is located. I confess I don’t know, but there are some things I do know:
I don't know where heaven is but I know that my Heavenly Father is there, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). I know I'll have a Savior who loves me there, “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). I know I'll have treasures there, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19,20). I know I'll have a new name there, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). I know I'll have an inheritance there, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3,4).
I don't know where heaven is but I know my loved-ones are there, “As a boy, heaven was just a great white city, with vast walls, domes, spires, mansions, palaces, thrones, and white angels that were strangers to me. Then my brother died and heaven became a great white city, with vast walls, domes, spires, mansions, palaces, thrones, and white angels, and my brother. Then another brother died, my mom and dad went also. Then when I thought about heaven, all I could see was my loved-ones who were there waiting for me.” 19th Century Presbyterian Evangelist, J. Wilbur Chapman
"They say that heaven's pretty, well living here is too.
And if they told me I would have to choose between the two,
I'd go home, going home, where I belong."
'Cause one night I'll be sleeping when death knocks on my door,
And I'll awake to find that I'm not homesick anymore.
I'll be home, going home, where I belong."
–B.J. Thomas–
I’m ready to go, only because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and LORD! I have my ticket, printed in the blood of Jesus Christ, who died for me!
