People have a way of becoming easily irritated when you talk about their perceptions of Heaven. They like the streets of gold, gates of pearl, etc. They should, but some to their detriment.
Is a statement, such as the one above, more of an outlier and not the true reality of most professing believers? We should examine what is attractive to us about Heaven. What does it say about our beliefs if we are more concerned with the size and position of our “mansion” in Heaven, than we are our Risen Savior? What does it say about our relationship with Christ if we are concerned about the existence of baseball, fishing, etc; instead of being satisfied with Jesus?
I will leave those questions unanswered and move to the real point that I would like to communicate. Can we walk on streets of gold now? While we live on this earth, can we experience Heaven on earth?
Recently, I have been reading Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. Willard makes a clear and concise argument for the reality of the Kingdom of God in our present lives. This understanding has helped shape the view that I will propose.
As I preached last night I strayed from my notes and made the following observation. When we turn our back on the world’s accepted system of worth; be it financial, material, status, power, etc; in order to serve Jesus Christ, then we are walking on streets of gold. I caught a few funny looks so I pressed on. Yes, I know that funny looks should encourage a pastor to hush, but they don’t.
In Matthew 6:10 Jesus gives His disciples this command: “Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
The will of God is perfectly done in Heaven. Why? Because those in Heaven perfectly follow the truth that God has laid before them. Lacking a sinful nature, they are free to wholly worship the God of Creation. However, Jesus doesn’t just mention Heaven. He states that it should be our prayer that we experience the will of God being perfectly done in our lives, now.
Therefore, I would state, that when our views on material wealth and the pursuit of such wealth are in line with the teaching of Jesus, then we are walking on streets of gold. We are taking what the world considers valuable and surrendering our pursuit of the same to our relationship with Christ. We are walking on what others seek to collect.
I pray that you have a blessed Monday, and that you walk on gold today.
Seek Understanding 