Heaven, Good Books, and Work (When it’s a Joy).

I love Randy Alcorn. He’s one of my favorite authors. He’s written quite a few gripping, suspenseful novels and I’m pretty sure I’ve read them all but my favorite by far is Safely Home. If you haven’t read it, WOW.

Just wow.

It’s one of the all-time-greatest life-changing… novels.

I recommend very few books… well, ok, I recommend LOTS of books, but for realz on this one…

Believe me when I say its a MUST. READ.

Randy also wrote my favorite ‘money’ book ever, called The Treasure Principle. Its a tiny book and a super-quick read — you could knock it out in an afternoon — and pretty much sums up what I believe is the truth about money and our attitude toward it (not that I always act on my beliefs in this area. But it describes what I aspire to). If all believers would read this and most importantly, put it into action, the world would be a better place for sure, and there would be no unmet needs. But that’s the subject of another blog post.

Back to Safely Home. In it, he describes some scenes taking place in heaven. And I believe it was in writing this book (I could be wrong about this) that he decided to research everything the Bible says about heaven, which led him to write his book called….of all things… Heaven.

I’ve been listening to the Heaven book-on-CD on my daily drives to Gladewater lately, and though I’ve only gotten a few chapters in, what has struck me most of all is the contrast between what most people believe heaven will be like — BOOORRRRING… as if we’ll be sitting on a cloud all the live-long day strumming a harp in a neverending church service — and what the Bible describes.

There will be work to do… fulfulling, satisfying work that we were created to do.

Do you ever have those days at your job where you feel SO GOOD about the work that you do? Or not necessarily at your paying job, but whatever it is you do that makes you feel SO GOOD about how you spent your day… about what you accomplished…

For my dad, for example, its a day working on the farm, or for my mom, a day spent working in the flower beds. Its that deep satisfaction of a job WELL DONE that just makes your soul feel good where you find yourself thinking, “I love this work…” and you pour your very heart into it and ALL your sweat and tears, and don’t even mind at all because THIS IS WHAT YOU WERE BORN TO DO?

I’ve had a few of those days at work lately, where I poured my heart into it, worked so hard that the day flew by and I was so busy that I forgot to eat lunch, and I really enjoyed myself, and it made me think to myself how much I love what I do.

I think that’s what heaven will be like, per Randy Alcorn’s thoughts on the subject. We’ll have work to do… and it will be utterly satisfying and fulfilling; the work that God intended when he first put Adam and Eve in the garden.

And that’s only one great thing about heaven; I can’t wait to finish my book-on-CD to find out the rest.

But it sounds pretty great so far.