Our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers used to talk much about
where heaven was. And some thought it was up above the clouds, and
others thought it would be here on earth, after all the wickedness and
selfishness were done away. Every one, however, used to think that the
New Jerusalem, with its pearly gates and golden streets, was a real
place like the cities of to-day.
But we think of heaven more as the feeling in our hearts when we are
happy from being with our friends, or when we have done right and
unselfish things. We know what it is, then, to have heaven on earth. And
when we have heaven on earth, we know pretty nearly what the real heaven
is like.
Let me show you what I mean. Not long ago a speaker in a rescue mission
asked the children if they could tell him where heaven was. Immediately
a boy from the poorest section of the city sprang up, raised his hand
and cried shrilly: "I know; I know." "Well, my boy, where is heaven?"
the astonished leader asked. "Back in our street since mother got
acquainted with Jesus," was the answer.
That boy was on the right track. Whenever Christ comes into the heart
there comes with Him love and thoughtfulness of others. And when we do
kind things for others, we find happiness for ourselves, and that is
heaven. Christ says, "If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will
come in to him and sup with him and he with me." That means, when we do
things that we believe Christ would like to have us do, then He comes in
to sup with us. And when we feel Christ as our Companion, then it is
heaven.
We may go to a beautiful place called heaven when we die, but it will be
Christ who will make the place full of joy and gladness. And if we are
to see Him in that land and enjoy that heaven, we must first make a
heaven here on earth for ourselves and others by trying to please Him
and to be like Him every day.