Do you remember when you were young and waiting for Father Christmas to come? You were told it was five more sleeps and then four sleeps. Time never stands still. So much of our lives are spent counting down time – weeks until we leave school, months until we move or retire.
If our whole lives were condensed into a year, then I would definitely be in December, maybe you would be in October or November. Counting our lives away can be both sad and joyful, getting over the bad things, anticipating the good things. But we won’t always be living in time. Once we reach heaven time will be no more. Elijah and Moses will have no more time in heaven than you or I. They and we are no nearer the end. We creatures of time just can’t imagine what that means.
When I used to visit my friend and her young son, he would always immediately say ‘When are you leaving?’ There is no question like that in heaven. There is no departing. We can’t imagine what ten thousand years is like, let alone ‘evermore.’ It does make our trials and troubles here melt into insignificance. Our problems seem to go on for ever, but of course they don’t. Only one thing goes on for ever – our time in heaven.