I Love You To Heaven and Back

Prince and I have a contest to see who loves the other one more.  Usually it starts with  an "I love you," which is reciprocated with "I love you more."  Prince then says something like, "I love you to the moon and back."  We try to see who can go the longest distance.  One day he said he loved me to Neptune and back.  This morning though, he got me to thinking when he said, "Mom, I love you to heaven and back."  I got what he was trying to say, but my mind went somewhere else with it.

"I love you to heaven and back."  With Easter approaching, my thoughts have been on the enormous love Christ has for all of us that he would pay for our sin with his life.  That's a big price and we continue to sin again and again.  We can try not to, but we are all sinners.  The other morning I came across a verse that I hadn't paid much attention to before. 
1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.


1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Did you catch that in v. 4?   "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent."  How many times do we not see the sin in our own lives?  We all have it, but it is much easier to see the sin in other people than in ourselves.  Sometimes we do things and we know we are in the wrong, but there are times when we sin and we don't even recognize it.  My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will convict me of those sins so that I don't repeat them.  I will admit though, that sometimes I don't want the Holy Spirit to convict me because I don't want to change.  It's easier for me to be ignorant about that sin than to have to change my heart and attitudes.  This Lenten Season though, I have thought about how much my sins must have hurt Christ.  When I look at pictures that depict the crucifixion I see the marks where he was whipped, the blood, and I think of each of those lashings standing for sins I have committed and it hurts.  It hurts me to look at him, innocent and blameless, he took the punishment for things I have done, sins I haven't even committed yet, but he knows I will.  Is he resentful?  No, he knew what he was doing and why he was doing it and the answer lies in what Prince said to me this morning.  "I love you to heaven and back." 

I don't know when that day will come, when Jesus will return for all of us but I do know this: I can't wait for the day that I am face to face with him and I can wrap my arms around him in an embrace so strong that I won't ever want to let go.  I can't wait to look into his eyes and see the depth of his love for me.  Until that day, I will take my sins again and again to that cross and leave them there with a repentant heart, knowing that his death guarantees that I have a place with him in heaven.  I will ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me those sins that I can't see or recognize and to help to me change my heart and actions to love and behave like Jesus.  "I love you to heaven and back," he says and he does.

Are There Playgrounds in Heaven?

Last night as Hubby and I were making dinner, Prince came in and announced, "I don't want to die.  I don't want to go to heaven."
Hubby: Well, you aren't going to die any time soon, but why do you say you don't want to go to heaven?
Prince: I don't think they have playgrounds in heaven.
Me:  Well, I've never been to heaven but I'll bet it's a great place to be and there must be fun things to do there.
Prince: I don't think so.
Hubby: Well, what do you think heaven is like?
Prince:  I think people just stand around and pray to God all day.  All you get to do is pray, pray, pray and you don't get to play on the playground.
I somehow think that the God who said, "Permit the children to come unto me," will have something fun for the child in all of us when we get to heaven. 
Princess wants to know if her vanity and her toys will be in heaven.  A while back she kept saying that she was afraid she was going to die and not see us again.  I quoted the scripture to her that Jesus says he is going to prepare a place for us and that he will come back for us some day, but not until it is time.  I explained to her that Jesus had to go get her room ready in heaven and he won't come back until he has everything ready for her. 
Children think so literally and mine have so many questions that I can't answer.  Sometimes they really test me to the point that I have to really think about what I believe about things before I can offer an answer or explanation for their questions.  They really stretch me!  I am constantly picking Pastor's brain to be sure my explanations make sense and are theologically sound. 
Back to the discussion of heaven, it is fun to think about what it will be like, all of us together praising God in one voice, no division over doctrine or denomination. 

I also think we will have fun.  I love this picture of Jesus laughing.  It reminds me that God does have a sense of humor.