Many years ago, one of my close friends shared a deep longing in her heart. This mature woman of God exclaimed, “Steve, I can hardly wait to get to heaven; then it will just be me and Jesus!” I knew she was looking forward to focusing on that most intimate of relationships, the one with the Lover of her soul, the One who has captivated her heart.   

But I was troubled by her statement, and thought to myself, “What about the rest of us that will be in heaven? Surely we must “count for something.” I was surprised by the seeming “exclusion” of her brothers and sisters, in part because I held a different expectation of eventual heavenly pursuits.  

I, too, am enthralled by Jesus and want to get to know him more intimately, and l look forward to that intimacy growing forever in eternity. But I also know that Jesus resides in every believer, and through each of them he displays a different “facet” of himself. So, if I want to get to know Jesus as thoroughly as possible (a continuous adventure!), then I will need to get to know every believer in heaven with growing intimacy. I will want to “see” Jesus in every brother and sister and rejoice in the diversity of expression of his nature through the multitude of brethren.  In other words:

Getting to know Jesus involves getting to know all of YOU!

Although this may seem like a daunting enterprise, namely getting to know everyone in heaven at an intimate level, the good news is that we will all have as long as we need to do so! We can’t “use up” time in eternity; there is always an infinite amount of time left to continue to pursue our passionate quest to get to know each other.   

This delightful adventure of growing in intimacy with each other will never end – it is birthed deep in the heart of your Abba! It is one of the infinite blessings that await you because of his incredible love for you.