What In The Heaven Is Going On? Understanding Eternity
When you put your head on the pillow last night, 86,000 people died worldwide. One out of one die—the percentage is still hovering around 100%. Every single person reading this has an expiration date. And so do I.
Comforting news, right?
But here’s the thing: knowing we’re going to die should change how we live. That’s why I want to talk about heaven—not in some abstract, folklore kind of way, but in a way that actually helps us right now.
The “More” We’re All Looking For
In 2005, Tom Brady had just won his third Super Bowl and signed a $60 million contract. A reporter asked him what it was like to be on top of the world. His response? “There’s got to be more than this. This can’t be all it’s cracked up to be.”
Think about that. The guy had everything—championships, money, fame—and still felt empty. Why? Because we’re all wired for something beyond this life.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 puts it this way: “He has set eternity in the human heart.”
God has set us up for more. That longing you feel? That sense that there’s something beyond the daily grind? It’s not a glitch—it’s a feature. It’s why we love stories with happy endings, why we’re drawn to songs about forever, why “happily ever after” resonates so deeply.
We were made for more than this.
What We Actually Know About Heaven
Here’s what’s interesting: the Bible mentions heaven 582 times, but it tells us more about what heaven won’t be than what it will be. I think that’s intentional. If we really knew how awesome heaven was, we’d be doing anything to get there.
People ask me all sorts of questions about heaven. My favorite? “Will my pets go to heaven?” My usual answer: “Short answer, yes. Cats won’t. But the other pets will.”
But seriously—Jesus has been preparing a place for you and me for over 2,000 years. John 14:2 says, “In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
Two thousand years of preparation. Let that sink in.
Five Ways Heaven Helps Us Now
Understanding heaven isn’t just about what happens after we die. It’s about how we live today. Here’s how heaven can help us:
- Heaven helps me realize that everyone faces a forever. Death isn’t the end—it’s a transition. Knowing that changes everything about how I view my time here.
- Heaven helps me put this world in perspective. The stuff we stress about? The promotions, the possessions, the problems? They’re temporary. Heaven is permanent.
- Heaven helps me have an urgency for living. If this life is just the warm-up, I want to make it count. No more coasting.
- Heaven helps me have a deeper love for people. When you realize everyone you meet has an eternal destiny, it changes how you treat them.
- Heaven helps me deal with success and suffering. Neither success nor suffering is the final word. Heaven is.
The First-Class Upgrade
Lisa and I got married at 21, and a generous friend gave us our honeymoon to Hawaii. We found ourselves sitting on the tarmac in coach, by the restrooms—tied up like a bunch of boa constrictors.
A flight attendant walked up and asked if we were on our honeymoon. When we said yes, he said, “Today is your lucky day. Come with me.” He walked us through coach, opened the curtain, and put us in first class.
I had never flown first class in my life. The food was better. The service was better. The restrooms were cleaner. And not once did I say, “Oh, Lisa, I miss coach. I really miss being back there by the bathroom.”
When you get to heaven, it’s going to be so spectacular you won’t give a second thought to what you left behind. You’ll be in first class with the Lord.
The Only Way In
Here’s where it gets real. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
I know that sounds exclusive. But think about it this way: there’s only one number to reach you on your phone. That’s not narrow—it’s just how it works.
A lot of us want a “guard gate God”—someone who will just smile, nod, and wave us through because we’re basically good people. But that’s not what Jesus said. He’s going to look at each of us and ask one simple question: “What did you do with what I did?”
It’s not about whether you’ve sinned. We all have. It’s about what you did with Jesus.
Seeing It for Yourself
There was a little girl born blind. When she was six, a surgeon said he could help her see. After a high-risk surgery, the doctor removed her bandages. She blinked, smiled, and said, “I can see.”
She ran to a window and saw grass—green like she couldn’t wrap her brain around. She saw the sky, blue like she’d never experienced. Flowers in colors she’d never imagined. She turned to her parents and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me how beautiful everything is?”
Her mom said, “We tried. But you had to see it for yourself.”
That’s heaven. When we get there, we’ll say, “God, it’s so beautiful. Why didn’t you tell me?” And God will say, “I tried. But you had to see it for yourself.”
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Heaven is real. And at this stage of our lives, God wants heaven to help us—to give us perspective, urgency, and hope.
So let me ask you: Do you know where you’re going? God designed heaven for everyone. He doesn’t want anyone to miss it.
If you’ve never made that decision, today’s your day. Just say, “Jesus, I admit I’m a sinner. I ask you to come into my life.” That’s it. That’s the beginning of everything.
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