The joys of heaven (3)

Sometimes we describe dying as ‘crossing the Jordan’. That’s because the Jordan River runs into the Dead Sea. The story is told of an elderly Christian lady who was dying. For most of her life, illness had confined her to bed or a wheelchair. The family gathered to say farewell. Holding her hand, one of her grandchildren asked, ‘Are you afraid to die?’ With tears of joy, she replied, ‘No, I’m not afraid of death because my Father owns the land on both sides of the river.’ God is with us whether we’re still on earth or over in heaven. In heaven there’ll be no sickness, or depression, or pain, or loneliness, or fear, or grief, or any of the things that make life on earth so difficult. God’s Word says, ‘For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings’ (Malachi 4:2 NRSV). Isaiah writes: ‘The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away’ (Isaiah 35:10 NKJV). When we lose a loved one in death, the question arises, ‘Will I see them in heaven; will I know them?’ Yes! We wouldn’t know less in heaven than you knew on earth. Paul answers, ‘For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known’ (1 Corinthians 13:12 NKJV). Heaven will be the greatest family reunion of all time. And here’s the best part of all: we will never be separated again.