Did I just hear, “beer?”
Well I do hope that the word “beer” isn’t the first thing you thought when you read the title.
You’ll get that when you know the old cowboys’ favorite song, “In heaven there is no beer…”
It sounds so funny to my ears but really, it makes me think, will I ever be homesick of the life on earth when heaven means forever?
If heaven would mean a holy place where jokes and laughter seem to be a sin, then that sounds like a funeral.
If heaven would mean worshiping God forever, then that sounds to be a throat-wearying place to be in for the carnal heart.
If heaven would mean having a glorified body that never tires and never feels hungry, then I’d better sleep a lot and taste all kinds of food as possibly as I can while I’m here on earth.
If I’d list things I’d miss about life on this planet, it would be like this in random:
-sleeping
-painting
-writing
-eating
-rain
-sunsets
-dogs
-bicycles
And the list goes hanging…
Then I thought, without trying to sound spiritual and holier-than-thou to you all, I think, if there’s one thing I’d forever miss the joy of doing here on earth, something I can never do in heaven, it would always be…
(Can you guess it?)
…If you said “soul winning” then you won!
Because in heaven, there are no more souls to win for Jesus. This thought was emphasized to me more today, that soul winning is the only privilege given to us on earth that we can never have in heaven as believers. We can still sing and make offerings there, but we can no longer have the joy of winning souls for the Lord.
Being in heaven means your chance to share the good news of Salvation to people has ended. It means you no longer have the privilege to be used by God to be an instrument to rescue a soul from hell. Your time on earth is over and the only thing you can do is pray that those on earth would be diligent enough to share the Gospel to those loved ones you’ve failed to share Jesus with.
I hope that sounds so miserable to you, as it is to me, that you begin redeeming your time, your chance to share the message of salvation whenever, wherever, and with whomever.
We all have that moment when our flesh doesn’t want to speak about Jesus even when the circumstances are asking us to, even if chances are working for us to, or even if the Holy Spirit is convicting us to, and most of all even when we are aware that the Bible commanded us to. We always find ways to excuse ourselves. And the greatest of all the lies we’ve been buying from the enemy is that we still have a lot of time, a lot of other chances to do that. But the truth is, the only chance promised to us is today, right here, right now. When that chance is over, yes, you and I will be in heaven, but the question is, “Whom will you bring with you there?”
Because really, in the end, we will all face God and He will not be asking “what” are the things you’ve brought to heaven, like how many trophies or how many cars, but “who.” Who are those souls you’ve won for Him?
In the end, He will not be asking how many friends you’ve made but how many of those friends have accepted Jesus because of you.
In the end, He will not be concerned about how much you’ve enjoyed your life on earth but how much you have sought to spend it for His glory.
Because in the end, things touching this earth will be erased from your veins and they won’t matter for even a second. When you face God, the only thing that will matter is “souls.”
When you’re in heaven and enjoying all the grandeurs of its beauty and perfection, you cannot dare to think of going back on earth. Because, surely, if there’d be one thing you’d be wishing there, it wouldn’t be to taste the foods you haven’t tried, but that for your loved ones to be there too, to enjoy heaven with you.
If ever you’d wish to go back on earth, it wouldn’t be to travel those places you haven’t seen before, but to be able to reach the doors of those people whom you want to spend heaven with.
And if there’s one thing you will always be wishing there to have the chance to do all over again, definitely, it wouldn’t be to sleep for a moment. Certainly, it would be to share Jesus to all of your loved ones and friends whom you know might be separated from you forever.
Because in the end, that one thing you might miss in heaven isn’t really a thing but a “person”, a person whom you want to spend forever with but you cannot because you failed to share Jesus while you still have time on earth.
I hope, we’d never miss a thing.
I mean, I hope you and I would never miss a soul.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Mark 8:36-38
The Letter Ministry 