I am going to Paris.
Needless to say I am very excited about seeing such a remarkable place. In addition to my husband going, I am taking a dear girlfriend along to enjoy the sights. We hope to see the graves of Chopin and Debussy, and to visit the opera house where the famed "Phantom of the opera" lived once in folklore......
As I prepare for a trip, I google the internet for history and tourist tips. I bought a Paris Guide with maps at Borders. I bought a CD to help me learn basic French phrases so I can ask for a coffee with sugar and not appear to be a too-typical American tourist. I learned that tennis shoes are "out" and to dress up around the town. I learned that French people will be friendly with you as long as you attempt to speak their language.
I even checked out blogs on what souveniers to buy, what to pay at the Louvre for a ticket, and when is the best time to see the Eiffel Tower.
The anticipation and preparing for the trip (in 3 weeks) is just as rewarding as much as being there. Anticipation is such a wonderful thing; it is the "hope" of being somewhere new, the "joy" that something wonderful awaits, and the "knowledge" that I will learn new experiences with people from another place in the world. It's just like Christmas; all the decors, the candles, the cantata practices, the shopping are important to Christmas as the day itself.
As a Christian, I am so thankful that God has given us glimpses of heaven. He allows us to anticipate the trip of death into eternity by letting us know that in His presence there is eternal joy, no death, no sickness, no goodbyes.
The Bible says about Heaven:(Mat 13:44 NRSV) The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
(Phil 3:20-21 NRSV) But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
(1 Th 4:16 NRSV) For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
(Heb 12:22-23 NRSV) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect
(Rev 21:4 NRSV) he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.
And these are just some of the verses about Heaven. Unlike Paris, in heaven I don't have to worry about the dollar/euro exchange rate, the threat of pickpockets, waiting for Versaille tickets in the rain, or the hard seats of airports.
When God calls his child home, there are no customs, no waiting, no lines. Only an instant reunion with Himself and a beautifully-prepared home to rest in.
Yes, I'll enjoy the anticipation of Paris. But my true anticipation is for heaven!
