As we enter the final seven days of the retreat, it's time to ask ourselves some very serious questions about life, especially those concerning life and death. These are the questions we often avoid or are afraid to face. However, it's only when we seriously face these core, essential, and ultimate questions in life that we can truly confront ourselves, understand our true needs, and get to know ourselves better.

Now is the time to ask ourselves once again, why do we want to enter heaven? Why do you desire to enter the heavenly home? As the name suggests, heaven is our eternal home, our eternal dwelling place. For those of us who have faith, this place is a continuation of our earthly lives, an eternal abode beyond our imagination, the happiest, most perfect dwelling place. And Jesus is preparing a place for us, preparing for the day we return to the Father's house. But what God has prepared for us is not just a place, but a relationship that we shall enter into — an eternal relationship with God. This is the reason why we long to enter heaven.

The relationship that God most desires to establish with us is not the relationship between the Creator and His creation, the relationship between the Savior and the mankind He has redeemed, or the relationship between the master and the servant. This relationship even goes beyond friends, beyond family, and beyond the relationship between father and child. It is a marital relationship, an eternal union, an eternal vow, a bond that once formed cannot be separated!

The sanctity of marriage lies in the willingness of spouses to surrender themselves to each other unconditionally and regard each other as the most important person in their lives. God desires to have a marriage-like relationship with us, a perfect relationship that transcends this earthly marriage. Our life on earth is not only a time for us to prepare for eternal life, but it is also a time for us to prepare for this eternal ultimate relationship.

If God must be our first priority in eternity, our earthly life is a journey of preparing ourselves to put God first in our lives. Just as all couples on earth need time to get to know each other, build intimacy, and eventually recognize each other as lifelong partners and enter into a sacred marital relationship; similarly, we only get to know and understand our God in this earthly life, build an intimate relationship with Him, and recognize God as the first priority in our lives and our eternal partner.

Therefore, we cannot wait until we enter our heavenly home and participate in the heavenly banquet prepared for us before we begin to know and recognize our lifelong partner. In fact, our most important purpose on earth is to prepare for our own wedding banquet in heaven. God, who has been waiting by our side all along, is ready to establish this intimate relationship with us in our earthly lives. And the space where we can most intimately encounter God in our earthly lives is the "here and now". Therefore, "living in the present" and finding God and encountering Him in the present moment becomes the best preparation for us to enter the kingdom of heaven, and enter the most perfect relationship, a marriage relationship with God in which we will never be separated. This is something we cannot afford to miss out on!


Reflection

Now, please take a moment in silence to reflect once again on why you desire to enter heaven.

What is the most important relationship in your earthly life? Are you willing to put God first among all your relationships?

How will you make good use of your "here and now"? Are you willing to invest time to seek God and encounter Him in the present moment, in order to prepare for your eternal relationship with Him?


Today’s Prayer

Dear God, thank You for inviting me today to contemplate the ultimate questions in life: why do I desire to enter heaven; what is the primary purpose of my life on earth, and how can I make the most out of every moment in this world. I understand it is for my benefit, to let me know and understand as soon as possible the eternal significance of why I am created, so that I may seize every moment You have given me to prepare for my eternal life and my eternal relationship with You.

Lord, I feel how serious You are about me. I sincerely hope I can also be more serious about You, more willing to spend time building an intimate relationship with You, in order to prepare my body, mind, and soul for the wedding banquet with You in heaven.

Please grant me a more steadfast love, to love You every moment of my life!


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The following is the “Farmer of Hearts: Finding God in All Things” team, including FLL staff and volunteers. Please kindly pray for them. May God protect them and sustain their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Project Manager: Michael Lam
Writer: Paul Yeung
Editors: Bonny Chan, Rosa Tse
English Editors: Bonny Chan, Paul Yeung
Mandarin Editor: Anthony X.
Cantonese Narrator: Margaret Woo
English Narrator: Bonny Chan
Mandarin Narrator: Rene Ren
Audio Editors: Fonte Ip, Sander Lee, Margaret Woo
YouTube Editors: Fonte Ip, Sander Lee, Arnold Chan
Graphics: Francis Lai, Rosa Tse
Website: Patricia Young, Angela Wong
Podcast: Angela Wong
Social Media: Yollie Leung, Carmen Tsang, Rosa Tse
Theme Music:
“Friends Only” by Introvert Pianist https://www.youtube.com/@introvertpianist
“Watercolor Lilies” by Aaron Kenny https://youtube.com/@contactkennya