Viewpoint - Dave Weeks

 

Are you a person who loves celebrations? If so, knowing Jesus and getting to heaven is just for you! Jesus loves to celebrate. On one occasion we read of Him, not only attending a wedding, but changing water into wine when they had run out!

 

Jesus often spoke in parables and on more than one occasion talked about invites to banquets. Perhaps His most well known parable is the parable of the Lost Son, more commonly called the prodigal son. Here He spoke of a young man who left home with his inheritance and spent it on wild living and prostitutes. He soon found himself penniless and alone and even ended up feeding pigs to earn some money. However, Jesus tells us he came to his senses and decided he would go back to his father. He knew he had to say sorry to his dad and acknowledge how wrong he had been, he probably practiced his speech all the way home! On arriving home his father didn’t scold him but gave him a new set of clean clothes, killed the fattened calf and held a celebration! This is of course a picture of our Heavenly Father and how He responds when we turn from our wrong doing and come to Him. God is not the only one who celebrates when people come to Him. Jesus tells us that the whole of heaven rejoices and celebrates.

 

Of course the greatest celebration is reserved for when we ourselves arrive in heaven. The Bible tells us there is a great banquet and an eternity of joy and celebration awaiting those who get to heaven. Sadly not everyone will make it in. Jesus says “Unless a man is born again he can never enter the kingdom of heaven.” To become ‘born again’ we need to put our faith and trust in Jesus. He died on the cross for all our wrong doing. He died in our place taking the punishment we all deserve for our sinful lives, but He rose again and is alive today and will forgive us of all our sins if we acknowledge them and come to Him. I committed my life to Jesus 30 years ago. From that day I have known God’s forgiveness in my life. I also know that one day I will be with Him in heaven. I can’t wait. Let the celebration begin!