Recently around the breakfast table my wife asked the question, "Didn't someone predict that Jesus was coming back in October?" Our middle daughter asked a great question, "What is he coming back for?" I said that he was coming back to take Christians to heaven. She then had this very sad troubled look on her face. I tried to tell her about how amazing heaven really is. I told her it was even better than "Incredible Pizza" (An amazing pizza place, with games, laser tag and such) My youngest daughter excitedly joined the conversation with this question, "Will there be laser tag in heaven?"
All our attempts to convince our daughter of how great heaven is, were not working. She then asked, "Will all my friends be there?" I said if they were Christians they would be. She then with great frustration said, "I don't want to go to heaven, I really like earth!"
This humorous moment with my daughters revealed their attitude about this world, but I think it is indicative often times of our attitude as well. We can be tempted to think that this world is really all there is to life. When we get sucked into this way of thinking, we can get greedy and try to grab all we can grab for ourselves.
My wife and I just recently returned from a missions trip to El Salvador. Every time I travel to another country I am always struck by the poverty I see. The average income of a pastor in El Salvador is $10 a month! The interesting thing is that when I realize how wealthy I am in comparison to my Christian brothers and sisters around the world, it doesn't make me want to hold onto my wealth tighter but to give it away.
In these situations I am always reminded of what I read this morning in Hebrews 13:14 "For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come." Understanding how temporary this world is, will change the way I live. It will change the way I treat others. It will change the way I spend my time and money. It is crucial that we grasp this concept.
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