Encouragement
Various Metaphors have been used to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. It has been compared to a treasure that a man finds hidden in a field. He sells everything that he has and buys that field. Then again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a fine pearl of great value. It is also compared to a fisherman's net which catches all kinds of fish. When the net is full and pulled ashore, the good fish is separated and collected and the rest is cast away. This is in symbolism of the end of time when the angels will separate the righteous ones from the unworthy ones.
Still yet in another parable, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed sowed in the field. Though the smallest it grows to be the biggest of all plants where the birds come and make their nests.
The kingdom is also like yeast which a woman mixes with flour until the dough rises. The most popular depiction is in the parable where the sower sows good seed but an enemy plants weeds along with it. At the end of harvest, the weeds are pulled up and thrown in the fire while the wheat from the good seed is gathered in the barn.
There is a very thoughtful story with a meaningful message on how a man sees God coming towards him with a suitcase. The Lord tells him that his time is up. The man thinks that God is carrying his belongings in the suitcase but God replies that they were material things that belonged to the earth. The man then asks if the suitcase contained his family members but God replied that they belonged to his heart. He further asks God if the suitcase contained his soul. To this God replied that his soul belonged to the Lord. God then opened the suitcase and the man saw that it was empty. In tears he realises that nothing on this earth belonged to him which he could carry with him to heaven. So he finally asks God as to what belonged to him truly. God replied that the only thing which he had of his own were his moments. He could have used those moments to the fullest in harvest of the kingdom of heaven but sadly he had let go of precious moments. Hence he was now empty handed at the end of his life.
If we analyze this story carefully we will realize how we ought to change each moment of life into a valuable one. We can do this not with material things but with our love and care, spreading the good news of the Kingdom so that each moment is dedicated to the finishing line at the end of life.
In yet another story we see how a king had three wives. He loved his third wife a lot, took good care of the second wife but always neglected his first wife. On his deathbed, he called all the three wives to him. He asked his third and favorite wife to follow him to the other world but she flatly refused and said that once he was gone, she would find another partner for herself. The king was deeply sad on hearing this. He then asked his second wife. She answered that she could only follow him upto the grave to bury him but no further than that. The king was plunged into more grief. Suddenly he heard a small voice. It was his first wife. She looked very frail and sick and he realised how he had neglected her all these years. She told the king lovingly that she would follow him wherever he went into the next world. The king felt deep remorse at not having cherished the true love of his first wife and now it was too late to remedy this. He had wasted all his time.
We see how this is true of our lives as well. The third wife is like our wealth and possessions. They all go to others when we die. The second wife is akin to our family members. They can be with us only uptil the grave. The first wife is actually our soul. It is only our soul which will travel with us into the heavens yonder. And yet it is our soul that we neglect the most in life in pursuit of temporary happiness on earth.
The soul can reap a good reward in direct proportion to wise moments spent by us on earth. Moments that can be transferred into a fine pearl on this earth itself.
Heaven begins here on earth as the kingdom of God is within us.
There are times when we experience total and immense joy in life that we literally feel that heaven is right here on earth.
Heaven can be seen at the birth of a child when the parents gaze into the pair of the newborn eyes. Heaven is seen at a wedding feast, or a birthday celebration when the toast is raised and a fountain of wishes bubble over, also when one wins a gold medal at the Olympics, in times of catapulting success and prosperity. When one beloved meets another heaven begins for them from the moment they take the first step that will help them to reach to the other. Their heaven is then complete when they behold the other and look into the eyes of the one that means the most to them. At that moment heaven is fulfilled in the response of their heart beats towards the other. There is also heavenly joy in waiting, in thinking and in solid remembrances.
All said and done the day we leave this world is the day we shall truly see the real heaven in all its glory.
The Lord wants us all to be happy. He created the majestic universe and all the good things in it for us to enjoy. He wants us to smile through each day, experience a bit of heaven in our daily happenings and look forward to the total reality and fulfillment of heaven where He awaits our coming.
This can only be possible when God is a part of our every moment on earth. When we give him full control, he will dish out a daily menu of heavenly things for us to taste in the journey of life.
We see in the book of Daniel how King Nebuchadnezzar was so proud of his mighty kingdom that he thought himself to be above the heavens. He became so great that the people trembled before him. He then turned cruel and stubborn basking in his own glory. But God gave him a frightful vision one night where he sees a huge tree in the middle of the earth which kept growing bigger and bigger until it reached the sky. Its leaves were loaded with fruits and could be seen by all. Birds built nests in its branches and wild animals rested in its shade and every kind of living being ate its fruit. Suddenly an angel appeared and commanded the tree to be chopped down but the stump to be left behind with a band of iron and bronze around it. The angel then ordered that the dew should fall on the man and he should live with the animals and plants for seven years with the mind of an animal.
The king was greatly disturbed at this dream. When Daniel was called in to interpret the dream, he explained to the king on how the Tall tree which reached the sky was the King himself since his power extended throughout the world. But since he had not acknowledged God to be the reason behind his success, he would be driven out of his kingdom and the rest of the dream would then come true for him. This was to prove that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and he can give it to anyone he chooses. The stump left behind meant that he would again become king after seven years when he gives honor and glory to God as the Rightful Ruler of all whose Kingdom will last for all time.
The dream indeed came true. The King lost his royal power and after his seven years of exile his sanity returned and he praised and glorified God acknowledging that the angels in heaven and people on earth were under the control of the Supreme God.
Years down the line the King's son Belteshazzar commits another grave mistake. He invites a thousand noblemen to a great banquet in his kingdom and orders all the gold and silver bowls and cups to be brought in which his father had carried away from the Temple in Jerusalem so that his guests could drink out of them. They then praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, wood and stone.
Suddenly a human hand appears on the wall in the palace and starts writing. The king turns pale and orders all the wizards and magicians to be brought in to explain the writing. But none could do so. The queen mother then remembers Daniel and sends for him. Daniel once again interprets the writing on the wall as Numbers, Weight and Divisions implying that God had numbered the days of his kingdom, the king was weighed on the scales and found too light and thirdly, his kingdom would soon be divided and given to Medes and Persians. This was because the king had defiled and acted against the God of heaven, brigning in the gifts from the Temple of the Lord and worshipping false gods that could neither see nor hear anything. Since he did not honour the God who could determine whether he should live and die and who had complete control over him, God had sent the writing on the wall.
Daniel thus opened the eyes of the King and was rewarded with great honor and dressed in purple linen.
In today's world, people seek heaven in wrongful addictions and pleasures which will gain nothing for their souls. It is important that they seek heaven under the guidance of the heavenly creator via the teachings of the church and reading of the scriptures. Then they will understand where the true path to heaven begins on earth and where it will lead to the final destination at the throne of our Lord.
The question really lies as to where do we want to build our kingdom. Whether on material things which will crumble like a pack of cards in no time or if we want to establish our kingdom on a sure footing in the hearts of people under the control of the one God who has already constructed his kingdom in our hearts and now awaits our response to allow Him to dwell within and abide in us as we are in permanent dwelling in his most Sacred Heart.
Let us be fully occupied in decorating the kingdom here on earth with banners of love, peace and joy until the day our eyes are rewarded with the beautiful sight of God's kingdom in the heavenly skies.
Heaven is our calling and until we take the plunge we will never experience it in full. Heaven is not in gold, silver or earthly desires but in the soulful passion of love, care, concern and community fellowship.
Heaven is indeed in our hearts whenever we experience the joy and divinity of the kingdom of heaven whilst on earth until heaven is completed in our souls on the eternal day.
Maria Franco
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