John 14:3–4: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

March 21st, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Someone recently asked, “How can you be sure there is a Heaven?” The best answer is, “Because Jesus said so.” But it’s also because the human soul has always longed for such a place. Whatever culture you study, whatever time period of history, you will find some sort of belief in an afterlife. We understand from Ecclesiastes 3:11 that “[God] has put eternity in [our] hearts.” Here in these verses of John, Jesus tells us to take comfort because He is preparing a place for us; and as He prepares a place for us, He prepares us for that place. This is the first time in Scripture we find mention of God taking anyone off this earth to go to a place that He has prepared.

The Old Testament believer did not have this information recorded. God told Abraham that He would make his offspring as numerous as the stars, but God did not explain it was off somewhere else. The disciples seemed startled when Jesus revealed that He was going to take people off this earth to be with Him, in a place that He is preparing for them. Although this was the first time it was stated so clearly, it was not the last time. This same John, writing in Revelation 21, tells us that the city, the New Jerusalem, will come down from God out of heaven. It will be a new city where believers will dwell throughout eternity.

It is also comforting that Jesus said, “I will come again.” He didn’t just tell the way or write out instructions on how to get there. He said He will come get us and take us there. Musician Keith Green sang, “If the world took six days and that home two thousand years / Hey man, this is like living in a garbage can compared to / What’s going up there.” Aren’t you anxious to go?

“LORD, we want to be so heavenly minded that we are of great earthly good to You today.”