Christ’s return and our ultimate heavenly destiny will be unbelievably magnificent. It is easy to focus on the cessation of our earthly suffering and hardship. It is fascinating to imagine what it will be like to be gathered with all the saints of history before the awesome throne of God as we worship Him for eternity. Knowing that Christ will one day judge the living and the dead ought to give us hope. Yet we ought not to get ahead of ourselves!
God did not create us for time but for eternity. We will only spend a miniscule fraction of our life, residing on earth. For most of our eternal existence we’ll abide in the spirit world, in heaven. That’s why for the brief time we have on earth, we must do that which we can only do there: witness for Christ and expand God’s kingdom. In heaven, there will be no unbelievers. In paradise, God’s kingdom will be absolute. Our primary calling then will be to worship with the other saints.
But in this life, there are unique opportunities. So don’t waste your time gazing into heaven. Serve the Lord faithfully on earth while you can. What you do in this life will have dramatic repercussions throughout eternity.