The World’s “Heaven” versus the Real One (White Castle Romance, Part 2)

Uncategorized 4 Minutes

Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. But our citizenship is in heaven. – Philippians 3:19-20a

Two weeks ago, my husband and I decided, rather spontaneously, to join our daughter and her family on a four-day cruise to the Bahamas. We had been invited to join them some time ago, but my very practical husband was wrestling with what was involved in actually getting to the boat. (That perspective would prove painfully insightful by the end of the journey.)

I’ll skip the long, frustrating, boring part about all the hoops we had to jump through to get to the port in Fort Lauderdale, where we finally boarded the ship, and the fun part of the adventure began.

To say it was a large ship would be a serious understatement. There were over four thousand guests on board and more employees than guests – about ten thousand people on board all together – a floating city.

And what a city! As we set sail, the main pool deck was teeming with people, packed like spectators at a sports arena, drinking their beverages, hollering their jubilation, and dancing to the loud music. As a group of them started line-dancing like pros, reminiscent of a flash mob, I wondered what four straight days of this was going to be like, and Marty muttered something about “too many people.” But I doubted any of them were going to jump overboard, and it was too late to change our minds now.

Though things did settle down somewhat, there were always people everywhere. The ship had virtually every kind of entertainment and recreation one could imagine, including but not limited to: restaurants, bars, stores, pools, water slides, mini golf, basketball, boogieboarding, surfing, silent disco, karaoke, art exhibit, kids’ party, casino, and even an ice rink.

With all those people, it astounded me that the staff knew our names from day one. Our room attendant, a friendly, creative man from India, greeted us by name in the hallway, even if we weren’t close to our room. He left towels in our room cleverly fashioned into the shape of a different animal every day. Our waiter and bus boy knew the names of every family member around the table – eight in all – and little things about us. He would point out the sugar-free desserts to me and ask our nine-year-old grandson if he wanted the usual cheeseburger and fries. He would bring him fresh raw veggies to balance out his meal but then unbalance it by giving him extra cookies with his ice cream.

The gourmet food was exquisite – even the sugar-free and/or gluten-free desserts, made by master chefs from all over the world. I’ve heard that one can go on a cruise and eat virtually non-stop, and we did see many people carrying plates of the “free” food, presumably back to their rooms for a midnight “snack” later. To counteract the risk of overindulgence and not fitting into any of our clothes by the end of the trip, Marty and I took the stairs instead of the elevators whenever possible. Since the kids’ rooms were on Deck 2 in the middle of the ship, and ours was on Deck 9 in the bow, getting from their room to ours took a bit of a walk and a climb of 112 steps. (Yes, I’ve recovered from my hip replacement – Yay God!)

For four days we experienced being treated like royalty, being able to indulge in pretty much anything we wanted to do or have or watch or eat or drink. I’m guessing many of the passengers had saved up for months, maybe years, to go on this cruise. And there were moments when I wondered how they would feel at the end of the trip.

Would they feel satisfied? Would they continue to believe four days on this floating carnival was the pinnacle of life and start saving up for the next cruise? Did any of them stay too long in the casino and lose everything? Did anyone’s perspective on life change as a result of this experience? Mine did … sort of.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I have always known that heaven holds more for us than this world could ever offer. But, not ever having seen heaven, I need to keep reminding myself, because what the world offers is a lot more tangible. More than once I thought of Solomon, how he indulged in the wealth of the world without restraint, “because he could,” and how depressed he became in the end. (He wrote about it in the book of Ecclesiastes.)

To be clear, I did enjoy the cruise. I loved being with family, and I’ll admit I enjoyed the great food (and not cooking!), diverse entertainment, and playing with my grandchildren in venues not always available to us. But I never got the feeling, “This is IT!” That experience was yet to come …

A few days later, I was back in my home church, standing with several hundred other believers. We were worshiping our God, singing our hearts out in four-part harmony and feeling His presence with every note. When I closed my eyes, it was easy to imagine we were in His Throne room. That fifteen-minute glimpse of eternity beat all the pampering, entertainment, and amusements of the past week. It was more real, more personal, more lasting, more deeply satisfying. It wasn’t heaven, it was just a taste. But if a brief taste of heaven could outshine the world’s treasures, how much more incredibly wonderful will it be when we all finally come home?

I hope and pray that each and every person reading this will be there on that day.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for turning Your back on the treasures of this world that are rightfully Yours, to make eternal life available to us. Thank You for dying and paying for our sins so we can be forgiven and join You in heaven forever. Help us to be mindful of that glorious future, as the world clamors for our attention today. In Your name, amen.

Unknown's avatar

Published by seekingdivineperspective

I am a forgiven sinner and adopted child of God, seeking to see life from His perspective - as opposed to the world's flawed perspective - and living my life accordingly.

Published

28 thoughts on “The World’s “Heaven” versus the Real One (White Castle Romance, Part 2)”

  1. Praise God, You’re hip is all healed up! When I joined my Aunt on a cruise, several years ago…I also opted for the stairs, to and from meals. There was just so much eating😓 The cruise was was very nice…far nicer than I’d expected, but like you…I’d still rather have Jesus!!💕

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Wow, thanks for sharing that. Besides the humor, I was fascinated by the honest and vulnerable perspective of an unbeliever – the sense of hopelessness and awareness of death. I may try to send him a link to this post. Although he might scoff at my writing ability, maybe the Lord will use it to show him the Answer to his sense of despair.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. I’m really glad your hip is healed enough for you to climb stairs! We leave next Friday for our next cruise; it may be the 20th, but I could be wrong. Clearly, we love to cruise! The more we cruise, the more I realize that “heaven it ain’t!” We know that we can enjoy many earthly pleasures, but we never mistake them for the ultimate reward that the real Heaven holds for us. Until the Lord calls us home though, we’ll continue to cruise! ❤️❤️

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. It’s heartening to know you can climb that many steps already with your new hip. God is good and merciful! Your account of your cruise experience was quite interesting. I especially enjoyed the happy ending at your church where you praised God with fellow Christians in four-part harmony! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. Glad to hear that your hip is good. I have never been on a cruise, I do not think I could handle so many people. I have heard of experiences from others and it all sounds lovely. Like you Ann, I do think that nothing compares to having Jesus and nothing satisfies.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I love this post, Annie. And I am amazed that you can climb that many stairs so soon after your hip replacement. Praise God!

    In the late 1970s when I was in my mid twenties, I took a deep sea fishing trip into the Gulf of Mexico with my Sunday school class. About 100 miles off shore, a tropical storm hit and we capsized. By God’s grace, no one was killed, but my right shoulder was badly injured and has never been the same. When we finally reached the shore at Galveston, we learned that the storm that hit us was just one nautical mile below hurricane force.

    A few years later, when I was in my early thirties, I went to a writer’s conference in Chicago, Illinois. A group of us decided to take a tour boat out on the Great Lake. It was a perfectly calm day, weather wise. No wind, no storm, barely a breeze. Suddenly, our boat was swamped and buffeted on every side by HUGE waves of water. It was like the tropical storm that capsized the ship in the Gulf of Mexico, only this time, there was no storm. The captain barely got us back to the dock without dunking us into the lake. It was like riding a roller coaster made of water.

    We soon learned what had happened — an earthquake, over 5 on the Richter scale, had hit south of Chicago. Unbelievable! So, no ocean cruises for me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. One cruise was enough for me; my parents-in-law took my wife, our two kids, and me on one to Alaska several years ago. I enjoyed it OK, but my favorite parts were off the ship, not on. That whole experience can’t compare with what we’ll experience in heaven.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I think we’re pretty much on the same page, Keith. As for my “favorite parts,” for me it always has to do with people, and those encounters have taken place on shore, on a ship, on an airplane… Lots of those. When God leads, you never know what you’re going to get. (Forest Gump would say it’s like a box of chocolates. 😏)

    Like

    Reply

  15. I’m thrilled you healed enough to enjoy the trip with family and do stairs. I have no desire to ever go on a cruise. The stats on number of people is enough to know it’s not for me. I can’t handle large crowds. I’ve went sailing in Tampa Bay on comparatively small boats that could hold about 20 passengers. That’s pushing it for my comfort. Give me home with Jesus over anything this world has to offer.

    Like

    Reply

  16. Amen, Manette. The only appeal of a crowd to me is the “mission field” aspect. (See today’s post for the highlight of my day in Nassau.) Speaking of which, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is coming to Louisville soon, which has traditionally attracted upwards of 10,000 people. I am planning to do outreach again, so prayers are appreciated. 🙏💕

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to seekingdivineperspective Cancel reply