What is so great about heaven?

Right now I am consumed with some thoughts that are crushing me. I have been to several funerals of friends and family in my life. Most of them were Christians, although there are a few that I am not sure about. In all of these funerals there was a reccurring theme. That person is in a better place and we will see them again soon. As I think about heaven, I ask myself what we will be doing there for eternity. Streets of gold can only satisfy for so long (maybe 5 minutes with my attention span), and eventually I think that I will get tired of talking with people who have gone on before me. Is that what is suppossed to make heaven great? Of course there wont be any more sickness, pain, tears, or fighting. Just peace and happiness and a neat little harp and my own little cloud and maybe even a sweet set of wings (alright maybe none of the last things will be there). None of that matters....none of it satisfies and makes me long to be there. I want to quote a John Piper book called God is the Gospel page 15 which says it well. He wrote:

"The critical question for our generation- and for every generation- is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the firends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leasure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever say, and all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?
"And the question for Christian leaders is: Do we preach and teach and lead in such a way that people are prepared to hear that question and answer with a resounding No?"

There are times when I would have to honestly answer no to that question. There are times when I am not that satisfied in Christ. These are times that I need to repent of. I do want to share one personal example. After my dad died a few years ago, I would think about heaven a lot. I would long to see my dad again and just be with him again. One day I realized that I was longing to see my dad more than Christ. I believe that is sin. I repented of that, because Christ is supposed to be the sarisfaction of my heart. I was talking with Holly here in the firehouse and she gave a great example that I want to share. She said that it is like a kid that has everything but isnt loved. We have all heard stories of kids whose parents give them everything they could ever want, except for themselves. The parents shower them with ipods, video games, and toys; but never spend time with them. The kid would give up all the stuff to have time with the parents (although if he could have both it would be great). That is what heaven would be like without Jesus. We would be the kid with all of the cool toys, but we would be unsatisfied because all we really wanted was to spend time with our Father. To be with Him. I thought that she gave a pretty good illustration. Think about it. Would you be satisfied with heaven if Christ wasnt there? Is that the faith that we are supposed to have?

Self-discipline?

As the new year rolled around this year I came face to face with the classic tradition of making a New Year's Resolution. I have never made one. As a matter of face I hate the idea. Why is it that I wait until the first day of the year to decide what thing I need to change, and then I spend the next 11 1/2 months wondering why I only lasted 2 weeks on such a great resolution. That is what it has looked like on the outside to me, but this year I resolved to be different. I would plunge forward into this strange new world of resolutions and actually make one myself. What would possess me to move from such comfort and mediocrity? The answer is simple. I think it would be fun (I dont know why it would be, but it is) see if I can do this for a year. I will just call my own little self-discipline (or lack there-of). I had to choose wisely. I wanted it to be something meaningless, so I chose to refrain from all soda products for one year. What are the benefits? None except that I have a cheaper bill when I go out to eat, and I guess some kind of health junk (but I dont really care about that). I typed all of this to get to one point. What role does self-discipline have in the Christian life? How does it play out in regard to sin? It sounds like an easy question. Of course self-discipline can't free me from sin. I cant defeat sin on my own effort because then I would be able to boast. It is all grace. I think this is true, but lets look at the other side. Why is self-discipline one of the fruits of the spirit in Gal 5:23? It is also found in some very interesting verses in 2 Peter 1:4-9 (you should look at these verses real quick). There was a time in my life when all of my dependence was on self-discipline. I would have my devos in the morning and decide that today I would work on love. I will be more loving today. Or maybe I would work on my tongue because it sure would be a good thing if I could control that pesky little muscle. All of my Christian life was a matter of self-discipline. The dependence was on me, not God; and the focus was on action not relationship. When things finally began to click in my heart about grace and the intimate walk with the Savior, I took a ride on the pendulum to the other side. No self-discipline. I did what I wanted and what I felt like. If I didnt feel like spending time with God I simply refused to do it. I am now looking at this and wondering where the balance is here. God has already freed me from sin (Romans 6), but in the midst of this there is some responsibilty to flesh it out in my life (also in Romans 6 i.e. "do not yield your memners" and "consider yourselves dead to sin") Here is what I am getting at...Let's not forget that self-discipline is part of the Christian life. Not something to boast in or to depend on, but it is supposed to be there.