"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

                            -Matthew 5:8 

I don't know about the rest of you reading this, but when I imagine heaven, the first thing I think about is getting to see my Lord. In my opinion, the streets of gold don't really matter; the gates of pearl are of secondary importance; and fishing in the crystal sea will be the last thing on my mind (hey, who says there won't be fishing in heaven?). The first thing I want to do when I get to heaven is to see Jesus.

I read a book by Max Lucado once (my memory fails to recall which one it was), and in it he asked the question, "If you could live however you please - doing whatever sins your heart desired - and still make it to heaven, would you do it?" (I'm paraphrasing here.) However, he then proceeded to explain that, if you were to accept the deal, you would not get to see God once you got there. Yes, you would still get to have eternal life, you'd still get to see your loved ones that have passed away; but you just couldn't see the Lord. My answer to that question, without hesitation, is a resounding "NO!" After all, getting to see Christ is the only reason I want to go in the first place! You could change the golden street into a gravel road and the crystal see into a dirty pond, but if Jesus is there, it would still heaven!

There's a song that my Aunt sings in church from time to time that brings tears to my eyes almost every time I hear it, and I want to share the words with you today:

I dreamed of a city called Glory,
So bright and so fair.
When I entered that gate I cried holy;
The angels all met me there:
They carried me from mansion to mansion,
And oh what sites I saw.
But I said, "I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for all."


Chorus:
Then I bowed on my knees and cried,
"Holy, (holy) holy, (holy) holy."
Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,
Glory to the Son of God."


I thought as I entered that city,
My friends all knew me well.
They showed me the streets of heaven;
Such scenes too numerous to tell;
I saw Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Mark, Luke and Timothy.
But I said, "I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for me."*

*NOTE: I do not own the copyrights to this song. Please obtain permission from the owner before use.