For twenty years, before becoming a Christian, I was in the New Age movement and believed the teachings of my meditation instructors: Happiness is to be found in the present moment. It was a huge revelation to me, after becoming a Christian, to realize that the joy we have as believers is very different: While God wants us to enjoy our lives in the present, we also have hope for a future with Christ in “a new heaven and a new earth.”
I can’t remember exactly how I came across the work of 17th century theologian Richard Baxter, but I found his writings on meditation to be very inspiring. While he was suffering from tuberculosis, he decided to spend thirty minutes each day meditating on heaven; he then wrote the book “The Saints’ Everlasting Rest” about his experiences. I was struck by how different his approach to meditation was from what I had learned in the New Age movement.
I decided to follow in his footsteps for one week and spend thirty minutes a day meditating on heaven.
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First, it’s important to note that Baxter’s meditation is not like the New Age practice of attempting to empty your mind; instead he recommends filling your mind with Scripture. Biblical meditation has been described as being like a cow chewing on cud — slowly and thoughtfully. We don’t just read the lines; we repeat them in our minds, reflect on the meaning, and fully digest them.
Before beginning my seven days of meditation, I prepared myself by doing some reading about heaven. I first read parts of Baxter’s book; since it was written in the 17th century, the language is quite complex, but it’s still worth reading for its beautiful passages that encourage us to anticipate heaven. I also read the book “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn, which helped give me a concrete, biblical perspective of what heaven could actually be like. I realized I had a misconception that I think many of us have held: That heaven is an ethereal realm where we will float around like angels on clouds. In actuality, when Jesus was resurrected it was in his physical body, and he demonstrated his realness to his followers by eating and drinking. We will have physical bodies in the new heaven and new earth that God will create for us. Gaining this understanding helped me feel a lot more excited about it!
After that, I chose a few Bible verses about heaven to chew over — I picked ones that helped me picture what heaven was like, so I could feel excited and joyful about going there. With all this in place, I was ready to begin my seven days of meditation on heaven.
Each day I read and reread my chosen Bible verses. I would read them slowly, to really take in the meaning; then I would slowly write them out, which gave me time to really reflect on and digest them. Doing this really did affect how I felt and how I saw the world around me.
During my week of reflection on heaven, we had perfect spring weather where I live in Italy — not too hot, not too cold — and it led me to wonder: Will the new heaven and new earth have weather, and if so, will it be like this? (Minus the hayfever of course!) Enjoying the lovely spring weather in my garden brought me a great deal of joy, and it also made me think, if our earthly life can be this good, how much more wonderful will it all be in the new heaven and the new earth?
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My time spent in reflection helped me anticipate the joys of heaven, even while I was enjoying the good things in my earthly life. Each time I did something enjoyable — a fun afternoon spent with friends, a particularly delicious meal, singing and worshipping at church — I thought to myself that heaven will be better than all these wonderful experiences, and this brought me extra joy.
When it came to the more difficult challenges I experienced that week, reflecting on heaven helped remind me that everything is temporary. Since I live in Italy, far from family and old friends, I often feel homesick. I felt comforted by 2 Corinthians 5:1: “For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.” This verse reminded me that this place is not our ultimate home anyway.
I noticed that I often get hung up on trying to change aspects of my life: Thinking I’d like to earn more money, or write a book, or travel more. Reflecting on heaven helped me feel more relaxed about striving toward these earthly goals; it reminded me of the ultimate end goal — getting to heaven — which put everything in perspective. Ultimately, what matters most is getting to heaven, and ensuring that I share the Gospel and plant the seeds for friends and family to join me.
Reflecting on heaven also helped with future worries, the kinds of things that I sometimes lie in bed at night thinking about: Family members getting older, or loved ones getting sick, or my own financial concerns. It reminded me that death is not the end, and that the future is bright for those that follow Jesus.
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Thinking about heaven, of course, shouldn’t be a distraction from taking action in our own lives, and praying for change. However, it is a wonderful exercise for dealing with the trials and tribulations that James 1:2 tells us to count as joy.
One of the most surprising things about this exercise was that focusing on the future actually helped me enjoy the present more. It gave me a feeling of freedom — knowing that whatever’s going on, whether good or bad, one day we will be in a perfect place.
These are the Bible verses I used for my meditation: Revelation 21 and 22, John 14.2, 1 Corinthians 2.9, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Hebrews 11.16, 2 Peter 3:13.
