Janet and I are in Fort Lauderdale for several days of relaxation. We return home in the middle of the week, but we are enjoying ourselves while we are back in sunny south Florida. It’s been about 35 years that we have been coming here and I have to say that I keep noticing changes. For example, the traffic is worse than we experienced when we were here several years ago. There are new roads being built and everything seems to be under construction.
New buildings are popping up all over and the boats, make that yachts, are bigger than ever. We are stayng at a resort we have known since if was built back in 1982 when we first started visiting the area. Before that we were further up the coast in Boca and several of the other towns near Palm Beach. Today, looking for something to do, we headed north along the ocean to see some of the old places we were familiar with from years gone by.
We stopped in at an open house north of Boca to just get get an idea of what was available in that area. Suffice it to say that the house was a mess, a tear down I think, but it happened to sit on 2-1/2 acres that cost more than I have made in my entire life. I wondered aloud at who could afford to spend that kind of money on a place and was promptly told that Billy Joel had just bought two properties down the street. Guess I got the answer to that one.
Then Janet and I drove around and winded up having dinner at an area restaurant we tried several years ago. As we sat at our table, the parade of vehicles that passed by was unbelievable. A Bentley, then a large BMW, a Lamborghini, Ferrari and a new Rolls Royce all rounded the corner and passed by us – one after the other. Oh, there was a Lotus in line as well. Now I know that all the money in the world isn’t in south Florida, but it difficult to imagine what all these folks do to be able to afford all these luxuries. It seems like they are living in fantasy land… and I don’t mean at Disney.
But the more I thought about all this, the more I realized that what we are told about heaven is also difficult to believe. Revelation describes a place that is more unbelievable than south Florida. We are told about the jewels and the gold and the pearls and all the rest of the splendor. Our verse for this evening highlights a portion of what heaven is light. In Revelation 21:21, we are told, “The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.”
In other words, heaven is better than anything we have here on earth. And I have a sense that poverty won’t be a problem for any resident of heaven. My encouragement this evening is that God will supply every need that we have. That doesn’t mean everything that we want, but everything that we need. My prayer is that God will also bless you with things beyond those that are necessary and that you will experience God’s grace and abundance on this earth. Even if you don’t currently live in fantasy land, if you believe in Christ, you will someday. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…