Colossians 3:1, “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand”

Heaven is a place we all want to go eventually. Most people I talk to are not in a huge hurry to get there. However, Paul said that we should set our sights on the reality of heaven. Setting your sights on the reality of heaven in your future will transform the realities of your life today.

How can you set your sights on the reality of heaven?

• Realize that heaven is a real place. Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is not an absence of consciousness. Heaven is not a figurative description of what happens when people die. Heaven is a real place that must have a real impact on how we live our life here on earth. There are 582 references to heaven in the Bible in 550 different verses. God would not devote so much attention to a place that does not exist. Heaven is a real place.

• Heaven is filled with real people. If you have loved ones who died with faith in Jesus, you can have confidence that they are not in purgatory. They are not floating out in space. They are not in a coffin. They are not experiencing soul sleep. They are in a place just as real as the place you are in while reading this blog. Perhaps heaven is even more real because this place is wasting away, and the place they are in is eternal. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, To be absent from this life is to be present with the lord. If you are like me, then you know some dear friends who are enjoying the benefits of that real place today.

• Heaven has a real alternative. Revelation 21:8 says, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” In order to embrace the reality of heaven you must also recognize the reality of hell. The reality of one place confirms the reality of the other. Every person you meet in life will spend eternity in one of these two places.

Today’s Challenge: Live your life in light of eternity. Set your sights on heaven and bypass any path that does not lead there. Realize that nothing in life is worth missing heaven.

Today’s devotion is an excerpt from a message delivered recently at CFA. To listen to the message in its entirety go to www.pastorgregsanders.com and look for the series “For Heaven’s Sake.”