How Important Is Going To Heaven To You?

November 19, 2006

By: Sellers S. Crain, Jr.

    In my recent visit to Nigeria I was reminded of something that I heard many years ago.  It was the fact that we are so blessed in this nation that many people no longer desire to go to heaven.  On one really hot day Dr. Moses Akpanudo said, "We don't want to go to hell, we know what hot is."  He added that, "We want to go to heaven, it means something to us."  When you see how these people live out in the Obong Village you can understand why.  They live in mud huts with thatch roofs.  They usually build their own houses out of blocks they make out of a little cement and a lot of sand.  They do not complete a house, and then move in.  They build when they have the money to do some more work.  The landscape is dotted with partially completed houses.  They will move into a house uncompleted as soon as they have walls and a roof.  There is no electricity in most cases, no running water, no toilet, no air conditioning, there are dirt or concrete floors.

    When it rains the roads, which are dirt and sand mixed together are almost impassible.  It doesn't matter that much because there are few cars.  There are some motorcycles, but mostly bicycles or feet.  When the holes in the road fill with water, the people go out and gather up the water in pots and consider it a gift from God.  We saw people washing their clothes in muddy streams, and laying their clothes on the ground.  Keeping clean is difficult when you live among such dirt.

    In spite of all the hardships, the people seem happy.  The Christians we met were vibrant worshippers.  They love the Lord, and they love to praise Him.  As Dr. Moses said, heaven means something to them.  It gives them hope, a goal, a desire.  Shouldn't it be that way with us?  Is going to heaven important to you?

Brotherly,

Sellers