BILLY GRAHAM
DEAR DR. GRAHAM: To me, the only thing that’s important is focusing on our lives right now. People who believe in life after death and Heaven are just trying to escape from their present responsibilities. We need to concentrate on today, not day-dreaming about some “pie-in-thesky” future in an imaginary Heaven.
— J.H.G. DEAR J.H.G.: I’m thankful for your frankness (even if I don’t agree with you) — but as I read your letter, I couldn’t help but wonder why you had written me. Could it be because deep in your soul you wonder if you might be wrong?
I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who sincerely believed in what the Bible says about Heaven but was unconcerned about their God-given responsibilities right now. Remember: Jesus not only taught us about Heaven, but He also healed the sick and fed the hungry and encouraged the downhearted — and He calls us to do likewise. The Bible says, “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:14).
Think, for example, of the thousands of schools and hospitals and orphanages that Christians have built all over the world. They believed deeply in Heaven — but they also believed that they had a responsibility to combat evil and poverty and ignorance, and to make this world a better place. They took seriously Jesus’ words in what we commonly call the Lord’s Prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Don’t spend your life in a fog of doubt and hopelessness. Instead, open your heart and life to Jesus Christ, who by His death and resurrection opened Heaven’s door for us. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25).
Send your queries to “My Answer,” c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28201; call 877-2-GRAHAM, or visit the website for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www. billygraham.org.
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