The Joys of Heaven

The Lord said to his faithful servant, “Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”* (Matthew 25:21,23) By this Jesus means to tell us that if we be faithful servants of God, some day we shall be admitted into higher joys than we ever knew here. The little child that has been taught that Santa will bring it many pretty things on Christmas will think a great deal about these nice things, and can scarcely wait until Christmas comes. Why should we not think much about the joys of heaven? Maybe some of us do not keep that heavenly country enough in our thoughts. The more you contemplate the joys of heaven, the lighter will be the sorrows of earth. The joy that Jesus looked forward unto helped Him to endure the cross. We can bear a great deal today if we have bright anticipations of tomorrow. What if there be a few tears here? There will be none over there, and this thought helps us to bear up a little longer. Thinking of the joys of heaven will let the light through the darkest clouds that can hang over our heads. Earthly pleasures fail to charm us as we think about the pleasures at God’s right hand. Though there is no flour in the bin, nor meat in the larder, we grow happy as we think of heaven.