I like Heaven. I like to read about it in the Bible. I like to preach about it from the pulpit and I like to talk about it with the coffee crowd or wherever I am! Heaven is and is going to be a cool place. You know, there is no sickness (flu season right now here), no death (going to a funeral Friday), no crying, wars or hate of any kind (every day in our world today). And, most of all, Jesus is going to be there!

My understanding of Heaven is from years of reading and studying the Bible and reading books that talk about and describe Heaven. I got to meet the author of the book 90 Minutes in Heaven. I even had him at our church and give his testimony of the account. Pretty amazing stuff.

However, my grandson, Killian (the warrior) probably has a better grasp than I do on Heaven. A year or so ago, Killian and his mom were talking about the Bible and Heaven. While they were talking, the radio was playing in the background. The song by Audio Adrenaline, My Father’s House began playing. The conversation continued as the two talked. By the end of the song, Killian stopped and said that Heaven was going to be a great place because there would be a table with a bunch of food (Rev. 19:6-9), and a big yard where everyone gets to play football (no scriptural reference there) and scream TOUCHDOWN!!! (Again, no scripture reference).

Then came the best part of this theological discussion. “And mom, Jesus and I can sit down and play trains…cuz I like playing trains and Jesus loves the little children. So I know we will play trains!” Wow, out of the mouth of babes and “a child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6) came an understanding of Heaven that made me stop and do some thinking.

Now, I am not too sure about how theologically sound all his reasoning is, but you got to admit the kid has a pretty good grasp on Heaven, even for an 8 year old. In his little mind he has a grasp of what Heaven will be… FUN and with Jesus.

Not that my grandkids are any smarter than anyone else’s grandkids but I think Killian has a pretty good grasp and understanding of Heaven. He may have it oversimplified and we may not be able to verify all his beliefs scripturally, but I can’t disprove it either. But, in his mind Heaven will be a good place to be and Jesus will be there, too. Can’t argue with that logic.

Sometimes we complicate things by overthinking them. There are some things we just need to take at face value and accept…like Heaven and what it will be like. Pearly gates, streets of gold, choirs, continuous praise, no death, dying, wars or any of that stuff…a child may not get the meaning of all of it. But through a song, this child has figured out it will be a pretty awesome place. AND…it will be a good place with Jesus there. Shouldn’t that be enough?

See, Killian hasn’t done the deep think theology, he has used his child mind and decided Heaven is going to be a great place. So much so that he knows what it takes to get there (confess and believe) and has made Jesus his Lord and Savior to make sure he gets to be there (and play football and trains with Jesus).

My question, as I close this article out, is why don’t we do that? I don’t know about the playing football (past that stage, I just watch it) or getting on the floor to play trains (I get down and can’t get up). But just being somewhere Jesus is should be enough and excite us all. We can worry about the pearly gates, streets of gold and continuous praise of God the Father and Jesus the Son when we get there. We really should concentrate on making sure we are going there and get there!

Making Sense of a Child Theology Bro. Tim