Heaven - What Will My House Be Like? · 27 September 2000
I had a dream the other night. I had died and I was standing at the pearly gates with Saint Peter. He looked up my name in the book of life and said that my reservation had been confirmed. He said that the Lord would take me to my eternal home. I thanked him and took a seat just inside the gate to await the Lord. I looked around and decided that heaven was not that different from earth.
The pearly gates were like the gates that I have seen in front of many communities. There was a street leading into the “development” that was lined with fine houses for as far as the eye could see. The “Main Street” had many side streets off of it that I assumed would have as many beautiful homes on them. As far as I could see in every direction were mansions the like I had never seen on the earth. I felt rather guilty that I would be living in one of these places since I had never really done much for God once I accepted His Son. I felt ashamed and wanted to hide but there was nowhere to go.
When I was feeling at my lowest, Jesus came to greet me. He took my hand and led me up the street. I was in awe at all of the homes that we saw along the way. I knew without asking that He had built each and every one of these places with His own hands. I knew what great love He put into every detail of every home. Jesus had said that He would prepare a place for us and He made a very special place for each and every person. Realizing this, I felt even more ashamed for my laziness on earth.
We turned down a side street with magnificent houses on either side. They could really only be described as mansions. I could not feel anything but awe as we walked down the lane my head turning from side to side admiring other people’s final resting places. And then the Master stopped. We stood in front of an almost vacant lot. There was a foundation for a home that would make many of the ones that I had seen along the way seem only great instead of awesome. But there was no house. There was only what could be described as a tool shed in front of that great foundation and piles and piles of rotten wood and broken masonry.
The Lord turned to me and said, “This is your home. I am sure that you will be happy here.” And then He turned as if to go.
I couldn’t manage to get any sound out of my mouth but the Lord must have felt my pleading eyes on his back because He turned around and explained, “I didn’t have time to finish the work. I had more important things to do than build your home. As you can see, I had plenty of materials to build it. I even had the tools in that shed over there but I had to use them for more important projects. Also, I figured that Peter or James could do the work but they had other things to do and besides, they are fishermen. I guess that I just believed that somebody else could build the house even though I was the one who designed it and had the ability to complete the job. By the time I had realized that the work was not completed and thought about doing something, the wood had rotted and the masonry had turned to rubble and you were already on your way here. So the work never got done. I hope you understand.”
When the Lord turned and walked away, I awoke sobbing. I realized that I was the one who had forgotten to do the work. I was the one who was letting others do what God had called me to do. I was the one who was shirking my responsibilities. The dream was a warning that the house I was designing for myself in heaven was different than the one Jesus wanted for me. I was designing a shack and He was designing a mansion. He had given me the raw materials to build my life on earth in a way that He would like but I was just letting them rot away with disuse. I was the one who was deciding to live in a shack in heaven. I was the one who was not really living on earth. And I was the one who could decide to change or not. I had the choice. It was up to me.
© 2000 Michael T. Miyoshi
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From Musings of a Mediocre Man published September 2000.
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