Those who believe in God know that this life is not all there is, there is a life after this one. The Bible tells of man “going home”. Solomon wrote, “yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:” (Ecclesiastes 12:5). In the New Testament Jesus told of the two ways after death, Heaven, or Hell (Matt.
25:46). So, followers of God know they must find the way to go home.
If one wants to go to heaven, they first must have the desire. Abraham had the desire. “for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Earlier in his life he had been told by God to leave his father’s house and go where God would send him. His great faith led him to obey God (Heb. 11:8, 9). It was through Abraham that all mankind was to be blessed (Gen. 12:1 – 3). That blessing was the coming of the Savior, Jesus (Matt. 1:18 – 25).
Just as Abraham had desire, he also had determination to see his journey through. While he was not perfect, he strived for perfection. He had many decisions to make in his life just as those who seek to go home to haven have today. Life is filled with decisions. A person must keep their desire for heaven as the focal point of their life. That will help them in their decision-making process.
With the goal of heaven, one will search for truth and that is found in God’s word (John 17:17). Just as the Apostle Paul told he young man Timothy one who is looking for a home in heaven must study the scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15).
God spoke to Abraham and He speaks to man today but in a different way.
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, …” (Hebrews 1:1, 2). That word is recorded for mankind in the Bible and is inspired of God (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). One must be like Abraham and have the desire and determination to follow through with God’s commands.
When you look at all the facts it is pretty simple. First, one must set self aside and put their confidence in Jesus.
The Lord in one of His lessons said, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me…For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24- 26). Following the Lord is a must. In fact, one must be in Christ if they have the desire to go home to heaven. Paul in a couple places recorded that one is baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3, 4: Gal. 3:27 – 29). f the person desiring to go home to heaven studies the Bible properly, they will find that those in the first century who were taught by the apostles and disciples obeyed the gospel of Christ (1 Cor. 15:1 – 4).
They believed Jesus to be the Son of God, they repented of their sins, they confessed Jesus as the Son of God and then they were baptized for the remission of their sins. Luke in the book of Acts gives example after example of people being taught this simple message.
If one is searching for the way home to heaven, God in His word gives one the answer.