Earth is the First Step to Heaven

I love superhero shows…pretty much all of them. I was late to the party in the sense that I didn’t read all the comics first, but I love to watch all the movies and TV shows. That being said, I don’t have all the tid-bits of background information that is sometimes useful when characters makes references I don’t understand. To avoid spoiler alerts, I won’t mention which show I was watching today, but suddenly the main dude ends up in some other dimension and he’s talking to people who aren’t people that resemble people he knows that call themselves Watchmen. If that’s not confusing, I don’t know what is. I rant to Jarrod that they can’t just suddenly introduce this notion of another dimension with beings that watch over everything. I have a hard time believing it and I’m wondering how everyone in the show knows about it except me…how do you know there is another dimension? How do you know when you’re actually there? And it dawns on me that this must be how some people feel when I talk about God and that I have a relationship with Him. I bet some people think, “How do you know He’s real?”, “How do you have a relationship with Him?”, “Does he speak?”, “How do you know it’s Him speaking?”

A lot of people enter Christianity because of a choice presented to them: do you want to go to Heaven or Hell when you die? Obviously, most people aren’t going to choose Hell. They choose Heaven…who wouldn’t??? Do you want to go somewhere light, bright and happy or somewhere dark, scary and hopeless? Once you make a choice, you’re left with a “now what?” on your mind. You’re left with questions about how you’re supposed to live, what you’re supposed to be doing, what’s right and wrong. Your world quickly becomes a system of trying harder and failing a lot. This system leaves you with anxiety and fear that you’re not good enough for God’s standards. You’re left wondering if you’re still going to Heaven when you die or if maybe you messed up too much and now you don’t qualify.

I have Good News. So, you chose to accept God into your heart and go to Heaven. That’s great! Really, it is. Now I want to introduce you to the fact that living on Earth is the worst Hell you’ll ever know. God lives inside your heart and He never leaves. He walks with your everyday and you have full access to Him, His love and His wisdom. Accepting Him into your heart started the relationship required to make life on Earth our first step to Heaven. Earth becomes our training ground/ boot camp for our eternal life with Him in Heaven. Our time here is so short compared to the life we begin at our physical death. What might be considered boot camp (difficult and scary) becomes summer camp (fun but not without a few hardships) because of the joy, love, peace, patience and wisdom we walk in with God in our hearts. He guides us and transforms unbearable circumstances into joyful memories. He can reshape our reality by changing our perspective, and He can reform our opinions by enlightening us with His desires.

Don’t get me wrong, life here is hard…I’m just saying that as a child of God, our experience is made much easier. Bad things happen, mistakes are made and a lot of stuff is out of our control, BUT with God on our side, we can overcome anything we face. God is offering light to anyone who wants it and hope to anyone who needs it. Accept these things and watch boot camp turn to summer camp.

You might still be wondering what you need to DO to get into summer camp. Stop right there! Just love God, and let Him love you. Enjoy His presence, and let Him enjoy you. Seek Him, and let Him show you wisdom. As you create a deeper relationship with Him, He will guide your steps. His opinions will become your opinions, and His desires will be your desires. You’ll become so connected with Him that you won’t have to wonder anymore what to DO or how to perform…you’ll walk with a knowing that He is good, that He loves you and that He will guide you.

I hope that God speaks to you in this time. I hope that no matter how well you know Him that He will show you more. I hope that no matter where you are that He touches your heart. I hope that you bear His light and that you enjoy your first step into Heaven.