HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN (Isaiah 35)

The people God has ransomed will come back on this road. They'll sing as they make their way home to Zion, unfading halos of joy encircling their heads, welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night. (Isaiah 35:9-10, MSG)

Jesus is "the way," the only way to heaven and eternal life. In fact, early Christians were known as followers of the Way.

Jesus mentioned the Way in His teaching. During the Sermon on the Mount, He said, "Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14, NKJV) I've heard it said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It is definitely the easy road, wide, easy to find and to follow. Jesus describes the road that leads to life as narrow and hard to find.

In Isaiah, we read of the joy we find on the road--joy that grows the closer we approach to heaven. One has to have a ticket punched by the blood of Jesus's righteousness to get on the road. It's holy, and closed to the rude and rebellious. It is reserved for God's people, for those who are ransomed and redeemed. Once we're on that road, we can't get lost.

If you ever want a picture of our redemption, watch the death and resurrection of Aslan on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

We're singing our way home. When Mom lay on her bed dying, I held her hand and sang hymns of hope and God's love and heaven. That's the way I'd like to go myself--and at least humming along if my voice or mind gives out.

Like the description in Revelation, all sorrows and sighs scurry away. Terrors of the night can't exist--darkness doesn't exist. God Himself is the light.

Best yet, we'll be welcomed home. Embraced like the father embraced his prodigal son, like my Jolene ran to Jesus's lap. So many I have loved, the numbers growing more and more each year.

In its own way, it's the believer's version of the tortoise and the rabbit. The rabbits scamper down the wide path but lose the prize.

Narrow the highway may be, but everyone on the road knows the Lord. The Teacher walks with us, warning us of any bends in the road. When I come before the pearly gate, I will march in with the confidence that "whomsoever will" may enter in God's divine purpose before time began.

Amen and amen.