Hung on the wall of my office, to the right of my desk, is a little hand-drawn picture my oldest daughter gave me several years ago. It’s a subtle statement, but one rich with depth and meaning. “There’s a place full of roses.” Perhaps, from the mind of a young girl, this is the picture of comfort and reassurance, a place of beauty and hope. To me, as her father, this is breathtakingly beautiful. 

It reminds me of an old hymn I was raised singing. “I am going to a city, where the streets with gold are laid, and the tree of life is blooming. And the roses never fade… Here they bloom but for a season, soon their beauty is decayed. I am going to a city, where the roses never fade.” 

I do not believe in a subjective heaven, where heaven is only the best you can imagine. “Heaven for me, is…” No. Not because your comforts and perceptions of beauty are invalid, but because the truth is even better. Heaven is depicted only a handful of times in Scripture, but the common denominator is so powerful. God is there. Jesus is there. The heavenly court is there. There is beauty beyond the human capacity of comprehension. One of the best scenes we are shown is in Revelation 4-5. 

The heavenly ensemble is shown around the holy throne of God, shouting forth His praises endlessly. Pain, suffering, tragedy, sin, heartache, and even tears will be replaced with endless praises for the eternal God. There’s a place full of roses, and in the presence of Life itself, the holy God, they never fade. 

Take a lesson from a child’s drawing and remember what is waiting for us. I can’t wait to see the unfading glory, the unimaginable splendor of being in God’s presence. 

Are you using your time here to prepare to go there?