Heaven [2] - Word For Today

‘Set your sights on the realities of heaven.’ Colossians 3:1

Five hundred years ago sailors feared the horizon, believing if you sailed too far you could fall off the edge of the world. Today we smile at such an idea. But back then they were deadly serious; so much so that they erected a monument at the Strait of Gibraltar to commemorate the concept. At its narrowest point Spaniards assembled a huge stone marker bearing the Latin inscription Ne plus ultra, which means ‘No more beyond’. Then in 1492 Christopher Columbus came along and blew their theory out of the water (no pun intended!). The discovery of new worlds and new horizons changed everybody’s mind. Spain even acknowledged this in its coins which came to bear the inscription Plus ultra – ‘More beyond’. Have you limited yourself in your thinking? Do you regret wasting seasons of life on foolish notions and pursuits? Do you feel like your best years are gone by? Not so! You’ll have eternity to make up for lost time in a glorified celestial body that knows no limitations. Your biggest moments lie ahead, on the other side of the grave.

So: ‘Set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven’ (vv. 1-2 NLT).

John the Revelator was a prisoner, surrounded by the sea on the tiny island of Patmos. Everywhere he went, the sea was there. It confined him. It hemmed him in and separated him from those he loved. Then God showed him the glories of heaven and he wrote, ‘There was no more sea’ (Revelation 21:1 KJV). No more limitations - in heaven you’ll be ‘free at last’.

Ezek 30-32, James 4