The Pull of Heaven

When we’re young, life seems to go slowly. But as we get older, we can’t believe how quickly life goes. We can’t believe how quickly a week goes—then a month, then a year.

The Bible says this about our lives: "We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace" (1 Chronicles 29:15).

Yet the Bible also says that God "has planted eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are not highly evolved animals; we are uniquely made in the image of God with a soul and a desire to know the God who created us.

For those of us who have put our trust in Christ, we are citizens of a different place. You might say that we have dual citizenship. We are citizens of the planet Earth, but we are heavenly citizens as well. Philippians 3:20 says, "We are citizens of Heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior."

I heard the story of a little boy who was flying his kite, which had gone up so high, he could no longer see it. Someone saw him tugging on the string and asked, "Where is your kite?"

"Up there," he said.

"I can’t see your kite. How do you know it’s there?"

"It’s there," the boy said. "I feel its tug."

We feel the same thing. We feel the pull of Heaven deep down inside. As Augustine wrote, "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it [rests] in Thee." There’s a desire in us, a craving in us, that nothing on this earth will ever satisfy.