According to one man, the world was supposed to end today at 6 pm. It didn’t. There were no earthquakes or zombie apocalypses (I added that one). Just another day that came and is just about gone. But it got me thinking about heaven.

I like to think I get echos of heaven, hints of what’s to come. My favorite description of heaven is the one in The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis where he says that heaven is like the first day of summer when you realize the school term is over. All the hard work, all the toil has ended, and joy has come.

When I hear someone calling a name I’ve never known before, but somehow know is my new name, it’s like a glimpse of heaven.

When I feel a peace that transcends the reality I’m in, the absolute confidence that no matter how disconnected the pieces of my life seem right now, they will all one day fit together wonderfully and it will all make perfect sense, that’s a taste of heaven.

When I have a longing for a place I’ve never been, I know there’s something more.

When I have desires awakened in me that nothing earthly can satisfy, I know that this is not all there is. This life and this world as it is.

It’s the thrill of just the right song at just the right moment. It’s a good story told well that changes how I see my own story.

The best part of heaven for me is not streets of gold or harps or mansions. The best part is knowing that when Jesus comes back, everything will be as it was always meant to be.

Every broken heart will be mended, every disease healed, every wrong made right, every tear wiped away, every life made new, and every heart filled with a joy that will never end or fade, but will last and only grow stronger with age.

Best of all, Jesus will be there.

That’s what I wait and hope and long for. That’s why I write this blog. That’s why I want everybody to know this Jesus.

Not only for the here-after, but here now, where real, abundant life starts and we get echos of heaven all around us. It’s for those of us with ears to hear and eyes to see.

Jesus will come back on a day that no one has marked on a calendar or figured out in some equation. The key then is to love God and love each other and to always point to Jesus and live as if each day were the day of His return.  To live like each day were your last.