Heaven Is For Real

That’s the title of a book I just read. The book is about a little boy who has an out-of-body experience that takes him to heaven and back. I have always believed that heaven is for real, but now I feel like I know a little more about it. I won’t go into the details of the book or provide you with a book report, I will only tell you how reading the book has effected me.

First, as a Dad, it reinforced the love that I have for my children and it encourages me to know that Jesus loves them just as much I do (hesitantly, I’ll add -- if not more). It also reinforced my belief in prayer and that God really does listen to us … and it reinforced my belief that believers of Christ will once again reunite in heaven and that Jesus truly is who the Bible says He is. But above all of that it showed me just how wonderful our God is.

But that isn’t to say that the book didn’t force me to look at the reality of life. You know that old saying, “bad things happen to good people” … well, in this story, that is exactly what happens. Much too often we take things for granted. We go to bed at night assured that tomorrow will come. Guess what? … for a lot of us, tomorrow doesn’t come. We are secure in our belief that nothing bad will happen today, but then something does. We fall under a false spell of “those things only happen to other people” when in reality “those things” can happen to anyone at any time.

What are those things? They’re the tragic, horrible, unbelievable, terrible, and the unexpected things life throws your way … you fill in the specifics. But they do happen, and at some point they could happen to you and me. The good thing is that Jesus knows that they will, and He is there to help us get beyond them. Why? … because He’s been there, too. I cannot think of anyone that matches the “bad things happen to good people” description any better than He does.

I will share this tidbit from the book that hit me from out of nowhere. While Colton (the boy who the book is written about) was in heaven, he met his sister. You’re probably wondering if he had a sister that died … no, he didn’t. Colton met a sister he never knew existed. In fact, he met an older sister that was never born. That’s right, a sister that was never born. You see, before Colton was born, his mother had a miscarriage and lost a baby. In fact she did not know that whether or not if she was carrying a boy or a girl at the time. So, the little girl Colton met was that child. Now up until the moment I read that, I hadn’t thought about where unborn babies go. I guess I thought that they just didn’t go anywhere. Maybe I believed they didn’t have a soul since they never breathed a breath of air. Honestly, I don’t know what I believed. It hit me like a lighting bolt! That baby, even though she was never born, had a soul while she was in her mother’s womb! A living, recognizable soul to God. A soul so precious that he’d already prepared a place for her in heaven…..WOW!

If you want to know the whole story you will have to read the book.

Here are a couple of questions I have for you. If God recognizes an unborn child as a having a soul, shouldn’t we? If He has a place prepared for babies that were miscarried, don’t you think He has a place for those that have been killed, murdered, and aborted? I say yes He does. But I’ll admit that, prior to reading “Heaven Is For Real”, I’d never considered that before.

I believe that life begins at conception and I believe that babies in the womb should be considered human beings. And now I believe that they also have a soul … and a soul, after all, is the essence of life.

I think this book is worth your reading. Whether you believe in heaven or not, whether you’re from a Christian faith or not, because it is good … and we all can use a little more goodness in our lives.


There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.

Eddie