Would You Still Walk Those Streets of Gold?

Imagine a Heaven...

where there is no fear, hurt, depresion, or sorrow;

     and solitude, illness, and envy ceases to exist.

where laughter and encouragement consumes our beings;

     and one can dance and sing with no conviction;

where you can have every desire of your heart

     and never lack anything.

Now imagine this same Heaven... without Christ. Would you still walk these streets of gold?

Would you still desire this kingdom without the living Christ on the right hand of the Father? Is this still an eternity that you might in the slightest consider: "yeah, I could handle that..."?

I spent my Valentine's Day evening with my school's FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), and received a message about the concept posed in both Francis Chan's Crazy Love and John Piper's God is the Gospel.; would you accept a "perfect" eternity in such a Heaven where Christ was not present?

So really, think about it: Would you settle for a perfect reward even if your Savior was not there to live it out with you?

The grace of my Father is something that He has been revealing to me a lot recently. And it makes me just so indescribably in awe to even try to understand why it is that He so lovingly wants to give me what I don't deserve. But perhaps the rationale is right in clear view; He gives, because He loves.

Couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my Valentines Day than reflecting on my Savior's love.