This work week is going to be a short one for me as my wife and I are going to the coast on Wednesday and we are coming back Saturday.  We will not be going by ourselves as we are going to take our two granddaughters with us.  Both of them went with us last year and we had a great time.  The oldest one, Avery is 3 and a half years old now and she still remembers the fun we had last summer.  The youngest granddaughter, Haley is just one and a half and I am not sure if she remembers the trip.  Avery has tried to prepare her little sister by talking to her about how they are going to play in the sand, make sand castles, splash in the water and chase sea gulls on the beach.  I am not sure if Haley understands all that Avery is saying, but she knows it is going to be a blast.  She knows to expect to have a good time and to be surrounded by people she loves and who love her.  Her being prepared to enjoy someplace that she cannot fully grasp reminds me of Christians trying to understand and be prepared for the day we enter into Heaven.  The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9

“Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

God’s word tries to prepare us for the magnificence; we read of a place with streets of gold and walls of jasper.  We read of a place with no suffering and no pain.  We read of a place which is illuminated with the brilliance of the glory of Christ, filled with the songs of praise and adoration of those who have received Him as Lord and Savior.  We hear these things and yet we cannot fully grasp the splendor and wonder of what shall one day be.  No, it has not entered into the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who love Him.  While we don’t fully understand everything, like Haley going to the beach, we know we shall be with One we love and surrounded by others who love us.  It will be a glorious place and a glorious time forever and ever and ever!  Until we enter that glorious place in the hereafter, the best we can do is praise Him in the here and now.  I hope you take the time to find out how much our Lord and Savior loves you.  I hope you take the time to read God’s word and prepare for the journey…and every now and then, take the time to chase some sea gulls on the beach.