There are days when I look at my life and wonder if God meant it to be more than this. I lived most of my life believing that God's salvation was my ticket to heaven. So, I lived life doing my best to be a representative of one who would be going to heaven. Heaven was my goal. My living merely pointed out my need for forgiveness.
But, is Heaven the real goal? If so, then why would He leave me here once I believed in Christ? I believe it is for life... Life! About a year ago, I was reading in Matthew and was struck by a verse I had internalize to be something different than what I was reading. Matthew 7:13-14 says, "The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to _______ is very narrow and road is difficult and only a few find it." Did you insert what I have for so many years? I've heard this verse often over my lifetime and have internalized that blank to have the word "heaven" in it. But, the word that belongs in this spot is "life." The Greek for the beginning of the verse gives even more insight. "The highway to hell" in Greek is "The road that leads to destruction." Our existence here is not about getting to one of two destinations, Hell or Heaven. Instead God desires for us to gain life. The life He so desperately wants us to choose is pictured in the Greek. "Life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever."
I have recently been reminded of this promise of life as I read through Isaiah. Chapter 26 verse 3 states, "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you." As I dissected the Hebrew, I found the words keep and peace to represent You preserving our lives, guarding us from dangers and being our watchman providing safety, welfare, health, prosperity and friendship. This doesn't sounds like a God who just wants us to skip our earthly living and get on up to Heaven.
But, notice the conditions in that verse, You provide this promise for "... all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you." In order to experience life described above requires us to fix our thoughts on Him. We must retrain our thought patterns to think of Your ways and Truth. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." (Romans 12:2)
Life is the promise and is meant to be experienced here. Jesus tells us in John 10:10, "My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." The Greek identifies the word life in this verse to be the exact same as the life mentioned in Matthew 7. "Life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever." Remember though our human thoughts deceive and they must be transformed by God's Truth. "Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life which is corrupted by... deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on you new nature, created to be like God - truly righteous and holy." (Ephesians 4:21-24)
