Can't Wait to Get to Heaven!

My Dad actually wrote this and placed it as his status in late March, and I thought it was really good and true and well written. This is definitely worth your time.

Last week I had someone say to me that life would be easy if you knew when you were going to die. Because, then you could have time to repent of your sins, get your life in order, and you could go to heaven. The comment caused me to feel sad and pity for the person who said it. Your eternal future depends on your understand that God is the source of peace and the only hope for this life and the next. True repentance is based on a longing to be good because then you are like God and his goodness. It is not based on words that you say just before you die in order for God to love and accept you. God does love you. But no matter what words you say God will and can only accept you based on Jesus, the Christ, and his finished work on the cross. So, if you think somehow confessing your sins just before your last minute on earth means God now has to let you go to heaven misses the point. C.S.Lewis once said "we long for heaven because the good in us longs to be where God is. If you do not understand than God is good then heaven should hold no value for you."(that is a paraphrase) why would you want to go to a party where you have nothing in common with the other guest and do not really like any of them either? Heaven is not the future finish line. Heaven is where God is! When Jesus entered this world he brought with him a tiny glimpse of heaven. Therefore, going to heaven should mean you long for a greater portion of God and his goodness. God is not a fire insurance salesman. Therefore, longing to know when you would die to "get right with God" really misses the mark. Maybe that person should "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow they die".because, unless they understand that the things they want to. "Repent of" were not worth doing in the first place? Heaven can hold only more pain and misery for them. Jesus is the source of Peace in this life and the hope if heaven. And, that peace can only be felt when we love God and those around us more than ourselves. If we do that, heaven is not a future goal. It becomes a present reality. That small piece of Heaven finds us hear on earth and we ride that "peace" that it brings us past death into the next world where it manifest itself fully in the presents of our God. So, I only wonder about when I might die because I want to know how much more time I have to help those around me? Not to get right with God. Because, in the end that is the only proof you have that Christ has changed your heart and you are have true repentance and heaven is where you belong.