What are we looking forward to most about Heaven?

It goes without saying that we're all excited for Heaven. But what if you were asked why you’re excited for Heaven?

I recently read a book in which the author’s primary goal was to prompt the reader to become more eager for Heaven. One suggestion he made is to think of whatever it is that brings us the greatest happiness in this life, then try to imagine that thing as being exponentially greater. The example given was that ice cream lovers might imagine Heaven as being like diving into a giant bowl of ice cream. Of course, the author urged each of us to choose our own metaphor.

There are few things I enjoy more than reading, so if I were to try this, I would probably imagine Heaven as an enormous library containing every book ever written. But there are so many other possibilities: riding a motorcycle down a highway with no speed limit (based on the laws of the country or the laws of physics); an endless jam session in which your instruments never go out of tune and your fingers never get tired; the ability to swim with whales in the ocean and never have to come up for air; flying through outer space and visiting other planets, stars, and solar systems; or maybe just a very long uninterrupted nap (you can tell I have a one-year-old child!).

I understand the reasoning behind this method of trying to imagine Heaven and increase our longing to be there. Since Heaven is beyond our comprehension, we have little choice but to relate it to things with which we are familiar. It’s hard to be excited about something that we’re merely told is exciting, but to which we can’t relate.

            Nevertheless, I feel that we need to be cautious when using this method. I certainly don’t intend to pour cold water on anyone’s eagerness for Heaven, but I think it’s important to consider exactly what is the primary reason for that eagerness.

What exactly is it that makes Heaven, Heaven? It isn’t the glorious environment, the absence of evil, or any of the “things” that are there, as wonderful as all of it will be. Rather, Heaven is Heaven simply because God is there, in the same way that Hell is Hell simply because God is not there. It’s not necessary to add anything to either of these in order for them to be what they are.

If I use metaphors like those above to increase my anticipation for Heaven, am I looking forward to being with God? Or am I primarily thinking about books, whales, and galaxies? We should ask this question even about being reunited with our loved ones who have passed away. Let me be clear: there is certainly nothing wrong with looking forward to these things, and it would be very odd not to. But we all should ask ourselves whether our anticipation for these things is greater than it is for being with God Himself.

I admit it may be difficult to relate to direct interaction with God. But I think it’s important to remind ourselves sometimes that in Heaven, there will be nothing greater than God. Everything else will be secondary, to put it mildly. This is something we all acknowledge in an intellectual sense, but do we really know it?

How do we determine whether our primary desire is for something other than God? We should ask ourselves whether we would be any less excited about Heaven if we found out that the object in our metaphor will not be there. Like I said above, I love books. I would love for there to be books in Heaven. But if there were no books in heaven, would my excitement for Heaven be diminished?

The truth is, if I'm in God's presence, I doubt I would be bothered by or even notice the absence of books.