You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word.
Psalm 119:65
Eternal instants. You’ve had them. We all have.
Sharing a porch swing on a summer evening with you grandchild.
Seeing her face in the glow of a candle.
Putting your arm into your spouse’s as you stroll through the golden leaves and breathe the brisk autumn air.
Listening to your six-year-old thank God for everything from goldfish to Grandma.
Such moments are necessary because they remind us that everything is okay. The King is still on the throne and life is still worth living. Eternal instances remind us that love is still the greatest possession and the future is nothing to fear. – Grace for the Moment
After reading this today I was reminded of a sermon I heard the late J.T. Pugh preach. He titled it, Something Better Than Heaven, Something Worse Than Hell. Looking at this title you may think it’s a statement that is impossible. You may find it hard to comprehend. We feel nothing could be better than Heaven and nothing could be worse than Hell.
It was the Apostle Paul who said, “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.” 1Corinthains 13:13 NKJV
Brother Pugh preached that we will be known in eternity. The rich man in hell lifted up his cry and ask help for his family. (Luke 16) With this in mind he preached what is better than Heaven.
You may ask what could be better than Heaven? A place of no sorrows, no tears and no pain and sickness. A place so beautiful that mere words fail so short to explain it. Walls of jasper, streets of pure gold. A city where the Lamb of God is the light of the city. What could possibly be better than Heaven?
The answer is a simple as sharing heaven with the ones you love.
What could be better to me is to spend all of eternity with God Almighty and my family and friends close to me.
To walk through Heaven hand in hand with my wife Stephanie. To chase butterflies in glory with my daughter Jessica and pick flowers with my other daughter Rachel. To hike across the beauty of Heaven with my son Bryan and my son-in-law Jared. What could be better than Heaven? To enjoy eternity with the ones I care so much about. To extend the eternal instances, those eternal moments that started here on this earth and carry them over into glory. That is something better than Heaven.
What could be worse than Hell?
To carry those eternal moments into to the wrong place in eternity.
To see my wife there because she followed my lack of commitment. To see my children there because they believed my unfaithfulness was the way it should be. To see people in hell because I lead them there. Yes, that would be worse than Hell itself.
So while I still have time I plan to make some eternal moments that will carry over into glory. I plan to remain faithful and committed to the work of Christ and cherish each moment here on earth. I plan to take the most memorable and touching moments, eternal instances and take them to glory with me. To enjoy the sights and wonders in the presence of the Almighty God with the people I love the most around me. That’s Something Better Than Heaven.
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