marvelous light

this week, in three days, i read heaven is for real by todd burpo. the content of the book (which is true, by the way) is this:

colton, todd's three year old son, had an emergency appendectomy. while on the operating table, colton experienced heaven. colton was actually in heaven. over the course of the next year or so, he shared what he saw with his parents. all of which remarkably aligned with what the Bible tells us of heaven.

revelation 21:23 says "the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the Glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp." one day colton's father tried to kind of trip him up by asking something like "what did you do when it was dark in heaven?" colton responded by saying "It doesn't get dark in heaven...God and Jesus light up heaven." 

i've been listening to a couple of songs on repeat lately. one is "nothing" by the script which has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but it's a kick ass song that everyone should listen to (you can actually feel the heartbreak). the other two coincidentally speak to this idea of God as light. the first is "marvelous light" by charlie hall. it says "into marvelous light, i'm running, out of darkness, out of shame." listening to this song this morning, after reading the book, struck me. the light. i've also been listening to "from the inside out" by hillsong united. the song says, "everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades. never ending, Your Glory goes beyond all fame." the book gave new meaning to these lyrics for me.

 
i've considered myself a Christian my whole life, though what that has meant in my life and my understanding of it has constantly evolved. but i knew i believed in Jesus, believed that He died on the cross and conquered death, and that i would one day join Him in heaven. but i've never really given heaven anymore thought than that. this book has not necessarily changed my perspective, but helped it. gave thought to things i hadn't. it's changing the way i listen to music, the way i talk to jack about Jesus, and the way i view death. though death still carries a lot of fear for me, "death has lost its sting"...

i want to go to heaven.