when we see Jesus

I recently posted about the rights and wrongs of yearning for heaven. I wanted to communicate its main point in a winsome way to the average Christian, so I wrote this devotional for Our Daily Journey. You may want to visit our redesigned website, and see what inspirational thought is posted today. I haven’t submitted this one yet, so if you see something that needs fixing there is still time. Thanks!

One of my favorite hymns is When We See Christ. The chorus goes, “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus, Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ; One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase, So bravely run the race till we see Christ.”

Jesus is the hope of every Christian heart. We long to rest in His embrace, rescued from sin and suffering forever. No more addictions, angry fights, or envy at another’s success. We will never disappoint Him again. No more cancer, violent collisions, or house fires. Jesus “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4).

All this will happen When We See Christ. Look at that title again. We are right to focus on the end, but have you ever wondered about the when? When exactly will we see Jesus? Until now, the only way has been through death. Few people want to die, but the benefit of seeing Jesus led Paul to say “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21; NIV). Don’t misunderstand. Paul wasn’t dreaming of death. In the next chapter he said that Epaphroditus was ill and almost died, but “God had mercy on him” and spared his life (Philippians 2:27).

There is one thing better than dying and going to heaven. And that is for heaven to come here. This was Paul’s preference. He closed one letter by exclaiming, “Our Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). He learned this from Jesus, who taught us to pray, “Father…may your Kingdom come soon” (Luke 11:2). Their prayers previewed the closing shout of Scripture: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. The best way is not by our dying but by His coming. Pray that it would be today.

Image by Theophilos Papadopoulos. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.