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Retirement In Heaven?
“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well
pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). Think about that statement for
just a moment. The apostle Paul had been talking in the previous verses
about being “present” in or “absent” from the body,
talking about life in this world and beyond this world. And he says that
no matter what state Christians find themselves in, “we make it our
aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing” to the Lord.
There are many people (the majority, doubtless) who think of heaven as
some sort of eternal vacation retreat, where the saved will be in a
relaxed state of retirement. But Paul says that our “aim” is “to
be well pleasing to Him”
even when we are “present with the Lord” in eternity. Does this
not suggest service to Him on our part?
True, the Bible does say, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from now on… that they may rest from their labors, and their works
follow them” (Revelation 14:13). Saints will rest from their
earthly labors and travails, but again, there is nothing to
suggest that the host of the redeemed will be doing nothing.
Just the opposite, rather. In the 7th chapter of Revelation, those who
have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb” are seen as being “before the throne of God, and
serve Him day and night in His temple” (v.15). Later heaven
is revealed as a place where “there shall be no more curse, but the
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall
serve Him” (22:3).
Yes, heaven will be a wonderful place. It is pictured in beautiful terms
in the last two chapters of the Bible, a place free of this world’s
trials, cares, and sorrows -- a place where “the nations of those who
are saved shall walk in its light” and where “there shall by no
means enter it anything that defiles” (21:4,24,27). But if one has
envisioned heaven being a place where the Lord will be waiting ‘hand and
foot’ on the redeemed, he has his thinking twisted. The redeemed will be
serving the Lord!
What is my point? It is this. Heaven will be filled with servants, those
who have learned in their earthly life to serve God. If we find it
arduous to happily serve the Lord on this earth, then doubtless we will
find it difficult to happily serve the Lord in heaven. Frankly, if such
is the case, we won’t find ourselves in heaven. Heaven is for those who
love the Lord and want to serve Him!
Some of us need to meditate about this… deeply. To do so just might
bring a much needed change in our spiritual attitude.
--Mike Noble
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