What Is Your Dream?
We all have dreams. Some people dream of travelling the world. Others dream of having a successful career. Robert’s dream was to have his own house on his own block of land, a house with a nice backyard where his future children and pets could play freely. But in order to make his dream a reality, Robert had to work really hard. For Robert, this meant working long hours and prioritising work over many other things. Even after he got married, his wife also had to work so that they could pay off their mortgage. To achieve our dreams, we need to work really hard, and this is exactly what Robert did. He now lives comfortably in a three-bedroom house with his wife, and his children have grown up and left home. He worked hard, and he managed to achieve his dream.
But, in this life, not everyone who works hard achieves their dreams. David, Robert’s friend, also dreamed of having his own house in a nice suburb of Sydney and worked really hard to achieve it. Yet, his marriage suddenly broke down after ten years. He tried very hard to reconcile with his wife, but they still ended up in a divorce, and he had to go through the painful process of property settlement and child custody arrangements. The trauma of the relationship breakdown negatively impacted David’s career. He worked really hard to pick up the shattered pieces of his life, but he had been living on rent ever since. In this life, unexpected things happen, and there is no guarantee that we can live our dreams.
“In this life, unexpected things happen, and there is no guarantee that we can live our dreams.”
Even if we think we are living our dream, our dream could be taken away unexpectedly. In 2022, thousands of Australians who entrusted their retirement funds at the hands of Dixon Advisory, one of the nation’s largest wealth managers, had their retirement dreams taken away because of the company’s negligent investment practices. More recently, people like Robert, whose children have grown up and left home, are facing increasing social pressure to sell their dream houses and downsize to help mitigate Australia’s worsening housing crisis. Some other homeowners in Melbourne even received mysterious letters in their mailbox, demanding that they “give away all their properties for free”. All these people have worked hard to achieve their dreams, but others want to take them away shamefully. In this life, even our dreams might be taken away from us. But such is not the case in heaven.
In heaven, what belongs to you will not be taken away from you (Matt 6:20). In heaven, you will be safe and secure (Rev 21:27), and you will live forever (Rev 22:5). So why not make living in heaven your dream? Why settle with anything less? You might think that heaven is boring, but heaven is actually too beautiful to be boring (Rev 21:11-27). You might think that hard work is needed to enter heaven, and you are not wrong. Hard work is needed to enter heaven, but Jesus has finished that hard work on the cross for you (John 19:30). On the cross, Jesus has dealt with the problem of sin once and for all to bring you to God (1 Pet 3:18). Now the only work that you need to do is to believe in Him who died for you (John 6:29). He is the only way to heaven and no one comes to heaven except through Him (John 14:6). And this a wonderful news: He has prepared a place in heaven for you who believe in Him (John 14:2).
“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
What is your dream, my friend? My dream is not only to be with Jesus forever in heaven. My dream is also to see you in heaven because I know how wonderful heaven is and how trustworthy God is. Better is one day with God than a thousand days elsewhere (Ps 84:10), and in heaven, God will dwell with us forever (Rev 21:3). How good is that? He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more pain and suffering in heaven (Rev 21:4). But hell is the place of eternal punishment, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt 13:42). And if you are not going away to heaven, to eternal life, your final destination is hell, to eternal punishment (Matt 25:46). There is no third option.
My friend, I plead with you: Repent before it is too late. Seek God while he may be found; call on him while he is near (Isa 55:6). You may dream of having a long life. But you and I know that in this life, unexpected things happen, and there is no guarantee that you can live that dream of yours. Life is short, eternity is forever. Please choose carefully, my friend, before it is too late.
“Life is short, eternity is forever. Choose carefully.”