... Ever Thought Heaven Might Be Boring?

The worst job I ever had was not the two months spent dodging manure-caked hooves under a heifer. It wasn't even the night shift of dangling chickens upside down in the barn-stench. The absolute worst was hunching over a conveyor belt in a white jumpsuit and hairnet watching pill bottles go ceaselessly by. My mission: to ensure the cotton ball was indeed inside the bottle. That’s it. For 8 hours. Every day. I cried often, crushed by the pointlessness of my ‘work’, and positive that the position had been invented solely to test the emotional fortitude of newbies…  But I did learn something about me that I obviously didn't know before; factory work is not for me.

Imagine my concern then, as I read a description of heaven in Revelation 4:2,4,8.

“…and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.  ...Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.” “… Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,

   “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
      the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

…I love music and singing, but the last thing I want is to leave this life and enter a praise factory where we all line up and exchange our identity for a uniform. “Hi there. Welcome to heaven. Here’s your robe, here’s your harp. ‘Singing in Unison’ to the left. Next please…” I mean, is that the ‘joy set before’ us?

I began to imagine heaven as I would make it, (yes, I know how that sounds) selecting choice features of this spinning world – the ability to fly, immense joy, innocent children, laughter, leaves rustling in a breeze that carries the scent of burning wood… a blazing sunset…

and it hit me

these are all His created things. And, they’ve been given to us in this sinful dark place. This place contains only a hazy glimpse at best. How much better would His throne room be?

“Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

I read it again.

“…and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. ³ The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. ⁴ Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit^[b] of God. ⁶ In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal…”

Add to that numerous other things one can expect in heaven:

-rewards and treasure (Luke 12:33, Matt 5:12)

-the greatest and the least (Matt. 5:19) (Oh good – it’s not an exchange of identity for uniformity. phewf!)

-justice, forgiveness, mercy (Heb 9:23,24)

-countless thousands in a joyful gathering (Heb 9:22)

But best of all, as David puts it,

"You guide me with your counsel,
      leading me to a glorious destiny.
  Whom have I in heaven but you?
      I desire you more than anything on earth.
  My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
      but God remains the strength of my heart;
      he is mine forever."

Psalm 73:24-26

Ah yes. Then I remembered who I’m talking about – my Father. My loves-me-to-absolute-death Father. He wouldn’t want a worship factory either. … that’s why He gave us free will in the first place!

No. The thought of a ho-hum heaven is straight from the Enemy, and I’ll not consider it again.

My Father’s love is boundless, and ability to think and imagine far faaaaaaar above any human can begin to contemplate. (Isa 55:9)

I didn’t realize the silent danger of it. The thought that heaven could be boring subtly obstructed me. It dulled my desire for ‘the joy set before’ me, it blurred my vision of my Father, and it doused my passion to ‘seek first the kingdom’.

Now, excited to join Jesus in heaven, hope and faith somehow swell with great expectation. I’m free to live as a citizen of heaven, and sincerely desire life on earth as it is in heaven.

How about you? Do you secretly wonder if heaven will be boring?

How did that obstruct you, and how did you break free?


.