Jesus or Heaven?

I was simply thinking today preparing for my sermon this Sunday; are we more excited about Jesus or about Heaven?  Because the answer to that question determines how we function here on earth and one of the answers may not look as pretty as we think.

So think about it?  When you talk about eternity, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?  Is it the Presence of Jesus or the promises that are offered to us?  Is it the glory and the full-on beauty of Jesus or the promises of no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, streets of gold, to be united with all the love ones?  Please, out of love and grace, stay with me on this.  Because it is a journey that I have wrestled with and walked through and honestly, still walking through this.  But if we are consumed with the promises of what Jesus offers in heaven, then life here on earth tends to be a little bit more about us than others, maybe even more about us than Jesus!  Think about it.  I can't wait to get to heaven because I don't have to deal with (fill in the blank).  Or I can't wait to get to heaven to see (fill in the blank).  I humorously like to say, if we go to "heaven" and Jesus isn't there that is "hell" and if we go to "hell" and Jesus is there, then it is "heaven".  But I also like that because it reminds me that heaven is not specifically a place as much as it is a Person.  Wherever Jesus is, that is Heaven.  So all that to say, I am working on getting to the place of desiring more of Jesus each day even if pain, sorrow, and death is a part of the story.  Interestingly, it says that Jesus came to give us life abundantly and think about His life...it was full of pain, sorrow, and death.  But it was also full of love, grace, joy, and beauty.  Should I expect any less here on earth?  But what is this life on earth about?  Us?  Jesus? 

And if Jesus is what I am consumed with about eternity, then think how that is played out while we are here on earth.  If Jesus is our desire, then we begin to live for Him and others here on this earth.  If we are consumed with Jesus, then we will want to know Him and His desires and guess what those desires are?  Him and others!  Two greatest commandments...Love God and Love others.  With Jesus in our vision, we begin to live out "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but with humility consider others better than yourselves."  That was Paul who faithfully served with joy for the sake of others knowing Jesus.

Here is the point.  Be consumed with Jesus because the promises follow Him wherever He goes anyways.  Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and what?  Everything else happens as it should, even in eternity.  If we are more consumed about the promises of Jesus, we might actually miss Jesus altogether and that could not end well for us here on earth.  Today is a new day, what are we choosing to be consumed with?