Imaginings-Heaven Part 1

Mother Teresa walks down the golden streets with the apostle John at her side. Their laughter echoed over the near waterfall and reached the ears of two young women.

Joan of Arc glanced up before resuming her conversation with the disciple Tabitha from Joppa.

“Which was your favorite garment you made?” Joan asked

Tabitha thought for a moment before answering, “Probably this one.”  She picked a peach rose and threw it in the air. The rose disappeared and in its place appeared a flowing deep peach dress. The dress fell onto Joan’s standing form, accenting her hazel eyes.

“Or this one… no maybe this one”

Tabitha began picking flower after flower and throwing them into the air. Some garments landed on Joan or Tabitha, while others floated gracefully to the meadow floor.

“Having fun ladies?”  A deep male voice asked from behind them.

They turned to see Jesus plucking a light green shawl off that had landed on his shoulder. When he dusted off his hands all the garments disappeared. He turned to Joan and with a snap of his fingers a new dress hung gracefully on Joan's form. It was a daisy yellow silk with a full skirt that fell to her mid-calf.  Her old garments vanished from under the dress and her neckline showed off the new pearls that appeared there. Her strawberry- blonde ringlets fell to her shoulders and her dark lips parted in a smile.

He bowed and held out his hand. Joan curtsied in return and gave him her hand. As he led Joan in a dance he winked at Tabitha. Tabitha looked down to see herself wearing a pale blue dress with a yellow ribbon around the waist turning into a large bow in the back. The skirt trailed to her ankles and her neckline showed off the ruby necklace at her throat.

While Tabitha was busy looking at the neat lines of the dress, and trying to figure out how she would have made it, she was unaware of a man who had come to stand next to her. When she looked up, she saw the apostle John watching her.  He smiled at her. Tabitha had always thought John was handsome with wavy blonde hair and deep brown eyes that were now dancing as he looked at her. He bowed and took her hand.

"May I have this dance?"

Tabitha curtsied and smiled back. "Of course."

John placed his right hand on the small of her back, and held her right hand in his left. They waltzed across the meadow, which now seemed to be dancing along with them. A tune seemed to be coming from nowhere as the two couples danced. Before long, their laughter filled the meadow. After a while, Tabitha felt a tap on her shoulder, and went from John's arms to Jesus'.  Joan in turn went into John's arms and the dancing continued.

                                                

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Meanwhile, two young boys raced each other across a valley of lush green grass. Shortly, they came to the edge of the valley, where a beautiful lake sparkled in the sunshine. This didn't stop their race; however, they just kept running right over the surface of the water. Jesus had given them "walking on water" classes the day before, and they were so excited to use their new skills.

In their excitement, however, they forgot to watch where they were going. They ran smack dab into Methuselah. This, however, didn't bother him at all, since the force of the blow just gave the old man the momentum he needed to do a back flip and land back in front of the boys.

The boys, who were new to heaven, only having been there a week, stood in shock, their mouths agape. This was one trick they had not seen yet. Finally, the boy called Jacob regained his composure.

"Cool!" Can you teach me to do that?"

"I'm afraid you must be much older to learn that trick, young boy." Methuselah said with a wink.

Jacob just looked at his friend, Andrew, and shrugged. The two resumed their race. They ran past David, who was practicing his slingshot. He was standing fifty feet from a target, and hitting the bulls-eye every time. When the angel, Gabriel, strolled over David turned to him with a huge smile.

"Wow! This is great!"

"You haven't seen anything yet." Gabriel responded.

Before David could respond, Gabriel went over to the target and picked it up. He then flew 100 feet into the air and 100 feet away from David with the target.

"Now close your eyes and shoot." He called out.

David did as he was told and let the stone fly. He heard a loud ping. He opened his eyes in astonishment as Gabriel cried out: "Bull’s-eye!!!!"

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Peter sat at the pearly gates and read a letter that he had retrieved from the archives that morning. Everyday, it was his job to welcome newcomers to heaven.  Usually he would bring along something to read.  Today he had brought a letter that Paul had written to Timothy. Although, this letter did not make it into the Bible. If it had, it would probably be called 3rd Timothy.  He was greatly enjoying the letter, when he saw a young woman approaching. She had a beautiful slender form, and gorgeous features, but she seemed to be upset about something.

Peter got up from his chair and walked towards the woman with a ready smile.

"Hello, I'm Peter. Welcome to Heaven."

The woman, instead of coming towards Peter, as he expected, instead seemed to be cowering.

"I don't think I'm supposed to be in heaven."

Peter took a deep breath and walked closer to her. "Young Woman, you are here. If you were not meant to go to heaven, you would not have made it to this point. But since you are here, it is my privilege to welcome you here"

"But you don't know what I've done. You see, I was a prostitute. No one forced me to become one; I just sold myself into it. Then I heard about what Jesus did on the cross, and I asked Him to be my Savior. I got myself out of prostitution, but I have never been able to wash away the filth." At this, she fell in a heap and wept bitterly.

Peter went back to the gate, and took a small yellow butterfly out of a basket. After whispering in its ear, he let it go. The butterfly flew over the gates, and across the valleys and meadows, over to where Jesus was dancing with Tabitha.

Jesus was in the middle of saying something to Tabitha, when the butterfly came and landed on his shoulder. Jesus stopped for a moment, to look at the shade of the butterfly's wings. When he saw that they were yellow, he turned back to Tabitha.

"Would you excuse me, ma'am?"

"Of course, which is it this time?"

"Someone who thinks she can't enter because of past faults."

Tabitha smiled as she went back to picking flowers. This wasn't the first time this had happened. Many made it to the gates, and when they saw the splendor, they felt inadequate. But Jesus had always sent their minds at rest.

Meanwhile, Peter was not sure what to do. The young woman was still weeping, and kept repeating, "I can't wash away the filth," over and over again.

"I can't wash it away, no matter what I try."

"No, but I can."

Both Peter and the woman looked up at the sound of Jesus' voice. Peter with a relieved smile, and the woman with a look of fear and uncertainty. Jesus walked straight towards the woman before she could even stand. He sank to the ground next to her. She refused to look at Him. Jesus smiled at her with tenderness beyond comprehension, and placed His hand on her shoulder.

Immediately, the woman felt a wave of cleansing sweep through her, and she realized that the past was gone, and she had been made new. There was no longer any filth to wash away. She looked up into Jesus' face and saw there absolutely no condemnation, only love and tenderness. A laugh burst from her throat, and she threw her arms around His neck, tears rolling down her cheeks. But this time they were happy tears.

Jesus stood, cradling her in His arms, and whispered into her ear. "I love you, Miriam. Now you can be with me forever. Well done, good and faithful servant."

And he carried her through the pearly gates.

Have you ever daydreamed about heaven, wondering what it would be like? Have you ever longed for heaven? 

We talk so much about how to connect with God in everyday life, or how to pray, or how to read our Bible, or how to act out God's love, but all of these things would fall under the definition of the Greek word zeo. Zeo is the word Paul uses when he says "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." I just wonder if maybe setting our minds on the things of Christ is not always about the living part, but maybe sometimes is about the "die is gain" part. If eternal life is literally our hope and what we strive for, what we prepare for as my blog name would suggest, then wouldn't it be something that is always on our mind. Don't we think about that which we most look forward to? 

When I was younger, I found it a great joy to think on the things of Heaven and what it might be like someday. Of course, there are parts of that which could be very well inaccurate, but it's not like I'm going to be disappointed if Heaven is different than I imagined it. So join me today as I look back and remember some of the imaginings I once had and wrote down about heaven.

Other Posts in this Series:
Till I See You Again-Heaven part 2
Angels-Heaven part 3
What are You Excited For(Guest Post from Made Beautiful).
Conversation-Heaven part 5

Out of The Mouth of Babes-Heaven part 6