Zeteo and Heaven

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Julie...a sure friend, fellow musician, quasi family member and sister in Christ since we were both in diapers.
Over the past five years, Julie spiraled into a mental anguish with an intensity few of us will ever witness in this life. Two Sunday mornings ago, she died at her own hand.
Heaven has been firmly foremost on this mind ever since.

Zeteo is Greek for "set your hearts on" which denotes man's general philosophical search or quest. This is a gleaning from Heaven, my current couch companion - a book by Randy Alcorn. Heaven is a topic that holds increasing fascination for me. The more I read, learn and contemplate -- the more I yearn for it. This is huge for me.
I cringe to admit that not too many years ago, my view of heaven would have sent any potential proselyte running fast in the opposite direction....indeed, the adjective boring or mediocre comes painfully to mind.
What an insult to the One who Is - there - preparing a place for His own!
Earthlings. Pfft! We boast so big from minds so small.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Col3:1,2
The verb zeteo is in the present tense, suggesting an ongoing process. "Keep seeking heaven."
Don't just have a conversation, read a book, or listen to a sermon and feel as if you've fulfilled the command. Since you'll spend the next lifetime living in Heaven, why not spend this lifetime seeking Heaven, so you can eagerly anticipate and prepare for it?
Preparing for Home. How on earth :) can this concept feel so novel to me?
After the highly unusual experiences of this summer, I am convinced more than ever of these three things:
*We are called specifically to search these things out with diligence till we see Him face to face.
*God has set eternity in our hearts (!) - a divinely ordained quest for heaven if I ever heard one.
*A casual careless pursuit of heaven is akin to wasteful living and a serious affront to our Maker.

C.S. Lewis observed, "If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.
The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.
It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.
Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither. "

We need a generation of heavenly minded people who see human beings and the earth itself not simply as they are, but as God intends them to be. page 21 of Heaven by Randy Alcorn
I heartily recommend this read.

We were once the three amigas and we all loved music. Singing was just one of the things that drew us together and kept us busy. I look forward to employing those gifts with Julie once again.