Written by Paulina Hoffmann
A couple of years ago I went to Europe with three of my friends. We spent ages planning, researching, and preparing. We checked out all sorts of locations to visit, places to stay, and routes to take. Then there was all the time spent packing and deciding which shoes and clothes would work best for the plans that we’d made.
I can spend more time packing and planning for a holiday than actually being away. I do all that so I can get as much as I can out of my trip. But do we have the same perspective when we compare our life on earth to our time in eternity?
A lot of the time, our Christian lives are focused solely on the part that takes place on earth. That makes sense, right? After all, the earth is where we are right now. But we won’t be here for long. The next stage is right around the corner—heaven, where we’ll spend the majority of our existence.
Do you ever think about what you are bringing to heaven? I know, you are probably thinking we don’t bring anything to heaven! Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
So how do we store up treasures in heaven? What treasures on earth translate into eternity? The only thing that lasts is our relationships. And what grows our relationship with God while we’re on earth? Prayer and worship. We know the throne room of heaven is filled with worship, and it will be more incredible than any experience or place we can imagine on earth.
Revelation 4:8 says, “…day and night they never stop saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty; who was, and is, and is to come.” We know there is worship in heaven. We know people will be praising God forever. We have multiple accounts of angels doing so. I encourage you to read Revelation 4 and 5!
When we worship, we are singing or talking to God. We are communicating to the King of Kings. I believe prayer is a type of worship and worship is a type of prayer. We can worship in the ways that we pray.
So often, people think worship is only singing or playing an instrument. It is so much more than that! It’s any action, thought or word that says, “God, I put everything aside and say you are wonderful, powerful, and so much bigger than I could ever imagine.”
Prayer is much more than talking to God. The ways we worship and pray say so much about our relationship with God.
If we are willing to lay it all before Him and pray honestly and worship honestly, it means we are willing to be vulnerable with God.
The Christian life is about spending time with Him. Because no, we don’t really bring anything with us into heaven. But we do bring our relationship with God. We bring our prayer life. We bring our worship. Everything else ends. Mission work ends. Earthly relationships end. But we can store up treasures in heaven, and what is richer than a relationship with God?
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was, and is, and is to come.