Choosing Of Our Own Heaven
What kind of person do you want to become someday? By this I do not mean will you be a teacher, engineer, doctor, fireman, or even a janitor. I am not talking about how much money you will have or what car you are going to be driving in 10 years from now. I want to talk about when everything you have is stripped away and you are standing alone who will you be? What personality will you have? What talents, strengths, weaknesses, characteristics, what qualities will you have? I am talking about what will it be like to be around you? Who will you be spiritually?
In Mere Christianity written by C. S. Lewis he states, “The point is not that God will refuse you admission to his eternal world if you have not got certain qualities of character: the point is that if people have not got at least the beginnings of those qualities inside them then no possible external conditions could make a heaven for them-that is, could make them happy with the deep, strong, unshakable kind of happiness God intends for us. ” Heaven will not be heaven without you choosing to develop the qualities necessary for a heavenly life. Every single one of us are responsible for who we are and what we will become one day. That is why I asked who you want to become, even Jesus Christ asked a similar question to his disciples in the Book of Mormon. He says “what manner of men ought ye to be?” then answering his own question says, “Even as I am. ”
Why would Christ want us to be like Him? Why is that such a big deal? It is because every challenge we face, every hard thing that we go through, every bad thing that happens to us, every unfairness, sadness, disappointment, and even every temptation happens for a purpose. And that purpose is so that we can become more like Him. Christ came to earth show us the way, he came to show us how to live a heavenly life. The scriptures are a guide that prove He is full of love, kindness, compassion, determination, obedience, and forgiveness. It can be a very overwhelming process to become like Him, however, we do not need to do that in one single day. Lewis even says, “Good and evil both increase a compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of the strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. ”
The small and maybe even insignificant opportunities that we have every day can make a big difference in our lives both here on earth and in heaven. Now some people might get the wrong idea about what I am trying to say. I am not saying that God only wants a handful of “happy campers” in heaven. I am not saying that here on this earth we have a big checklist of qualities and we have to checkmark each one we have, and if we do not have enough we cannot make it into heaven. I am saying, heaven will only be full of people who want and choose to be there because of how they lived here on earth. Brad Wilcox a professor at BYU spoke of a similar experience that he had: “I know a young man who just got out of prison — again. Each time two roads diverge in a yellow wood, he takes the wrong one — every time. “We need to get him to EFY. ” I have worked with that program since 1985. I know the good it can do. We finally got the kid to EFY, but how long do you think he lasted? Not even a day. By the end of the first day he called his mother and said, “Get me out of here!” (His Grace is sufficient). Now why didn’t he last? Why couldn’t he stand another minute being there?
The young man went, saw, and experienced a spiritual experience and hated it, because he didn’t feel at peace, he didn’t feel like he fit in. In this life God gave all of His children the gift of Agency, the ability to act and choose for ourselves. We get to decide who we get to become and we get to choose what we will be like. Nobody not even God himself can take that away from you. However, when you choose the good as much as you can because none of us are perfect we can feel what Lewis says; “Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitable wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you. ” When you are finally able to give everything, you have to become like the Savior He will mold you and turn you into the person he wants you to become. He wants you back home, and that is why we should choose to be Heavenly people.
