You may never have heard of Edward Harrison, but he was once one of America’s leading railroad giants. He was actually know as “King of the Railroad.” He was a preacher’s kid who dropped out of school to become an errand boy on Wall Street. In less than 10 years he had become a member of the New York Stock Exchange – no small feat.
In 1885 he bought nearly eight thousand acres just north of New York City for his forever home – a huge place he called “Arden.” The mansion alone was one hundred thousand square feet and sat on the top of Mount Oram with breathtaking views.
Today the mansion is an exclusive conference center with extra wide corridors, sprawling sitting rooms, beautiful courtyards & fountains, and lavish bedrooms. It’s one of the largest private homes in America.
Harrison moved into his sprawling mansion in early 1909 – and died there in September of that same year. He was just 61. He only enjoyed his version of paradise for a few months before death took it all away.
Life is truly an amazing journey but only if there’s a destination. Jesus gives us this promise in John 14 – “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you.” Heaven is a real and vibrant place. The word Jesus uses here is the Greek word topos, where we get our word ‘topography’ from. It refers to a literal location – a particular district, neighborhood, region or habitat.
The Greek word for ‘mansion’ simply means a place to stay, a dwelling or a home. Needless to say, mansion is a great word to describe a dwelling place in heaven. The Lord desires that none be left out of this incredible eternity with a place for all. And best of all this is not a temporary status for us! It’s our forever home!
There’s a great story about some kids who begged for a hamster. After the usual fervent vows that they alone would care for it, they got one. They named him Danny. Only 2 moths later, mom found herself responsible for cleaning & feeding the creature, so she located a prospective new home for it.
Mom was surprised that the kids took the news of Danny’s impending exit quite well, although one of them said, “He’s been around here a long time – we’ll miss him.” “Yes, but he’s too much work for one person and since I’m that one person, I say he goes.” Another child offered, “Well maybe if he wound’t eat so much and wouldn’t be so messy we could keep him.” But mom was firm. It’s time to take Danny to his new home now. Go get his cage.” With one uproar all the kids shouted, “Danny? We thought you said Daddy!”
Ouch! Pretty funny and thankfully the only qualification for our entrance and eternal stay in heaven is that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. It’s pretty incredible to think how much He wants to be with us. Heaven is a prepared place or a prepared people, Hell on the other hand, is a prepared place for unprepared people.
Mathew 13 tells us that hell will be full of people “weeping and gnashing their teeth.” I remember someone once saying they believe these people are remembering each and every time someone told them about God. Every time they watched a preacher on TV
and scoffed, and every time someone invited them to church. What were they possibly thinking?!
So what’s your BS and where is it taking you? BS by the way stands for “Belief System.” We all have one. The good news is this = As Zakir Naik noted, “God created every human soul with knowledge of His existence. The psychological constitution of man is such that he accepts the existence of the Creator, unless he has been conditioned to believe the contrary!” As always – our choice!
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPCItychurch.org
