PERSONAL

“We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

This is on my brother’s tombstone.  He was a total invalid for nearly four decades, after polio with very high fever for a week when he was six months old.

My parents took care of him in our home all those years.  (no institution could take him, even if that were a consideration)  Someone always stayed home to be with him.

This has a major impact on my life, even to this day.  But the above Bible verse affects me the most.

Several months ago at church in the park, I saw a new understanding of this verse.  I had always focused on the “much tribulation,” because of what my folks had to go through.  Then I realized what the verse is really all about—

“We must enter the kingdom of heaven.”  That’s it.  That is what matters, for all of us.

Heaven is where we belong.  Here on earth we’re just passing through.  We will have trouble here.  This world is rough because we don’t belong here permanently.

“This world is not my home;

.     I’m just a passin’ through.

My treasures are laid up

.     Somewhere beyond the blue.

The angels beckon me

.     From heaven’s open door;

And I won’t feel at home

.     In this world anymore.”