One day in heaven Paul discovered why others turned to Christ

So don't let anyone judge you in regard to food or drink, or in the category of festival observances, be it of new moons or Sabbaths. All these things are shadows of what was to come, but the reality has to do with Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17

For those who do not recall from earlier blogs Paul died in a fiery car crash and left a wife and several kids and was immediately ushered into the heaven where he felt the immediate presence of Jesus.  He was brought to the equipment room of heaven where his worn out, time weathered body was exchanged for a brand new heavenly one. Paul was, of course, ecstatic by the thought of being able to do the things he hadn't been able to do for such a long, long time. Paul felt this glow of peace envelop him, but he was concerned for what his family must be going through knowing their earthly husband and father was gone and God assured Paul that just as he came down to rescue him He was also sending angels to help his family through the grieving process.  

Paul was given a job in heaven.  He always wanted to be a carpenter but never had the earthly skill to be one. In heaven, Paul was given these skills where he became a master at creating grand pianos.  In heaven's reception line Paul finally got to see his child who had died years earlier and where he became familiar with the devastating and painful grief of losing a child. As his child was telling him all the things he had done since he came to heaven Paul knew that he finally had closure with some of the many 'why's and 'what if's' which he had on earth.

Paul fell in love with heaven with the sheer beauty he saw all around him. As he looked out the piano shop he could see the trees in full bloom and he could hear with his brand new crisp hearing the song birds singing their morning melody.  Paul looked across the way where he could see children playing in the trees.  He knew that these children had lost their young earthly lives prematurely, but he also knew that the moment they came to heaven there would be no more pain or sorrow.

One day while he was working on one of the baby grand pianos, 3 gentlemen came into his shop where they immediately admired the hand crafted pianos he had been working on. Each of them represented a different culture.  Paul set down his sanding gloves and walked over to greet them.

Paul: "Hi " as he came over to greet them with a handshake.

The first guy reached out to him. He looked the type who might have been from the middle east.

"My name is Sari"  

The second guy looked Asian as he reached out his hand.

"I'm  Arashi"

Paul:  "Nice to meet you: I am Paul"

The third guy reached over to greet Paul. " I'm Abraham"

Paul:  " Just like the biblical Abraham!

Abraham:  " My Jewish parents named me that because they admired him."

Paul was curious about their stories and asked each one how they came to know Christ.

Sari:  " I was born into a Muslim family. I was raised by Muslim parents to respect Allah by  reading the Koran and go to daily prayers."

Paul: " and how about you Abraham?"

Abraham: " I was raised by Jewish parents who told me that one day the Messiah would come and redeem the world."

Paul: " How bout you Arashi?"

Arashi: " I was raised by a father who taught me the importance of following Buddha. We had Buddhist statues throughout our home."

As each of them began to tell their story, Paul was becoming more and more fascinated by their stories.  He knew that on earth these three would not be friends.  He knew that Sari and Abraham were taught to hate each other because of what they had been taught, but in heaven, all three of them became close friends.

Paul:  " How did you guys get to know Christ Jesus?" There, he said it. Now that he said it Paul began to wait for their responses.  Paul was fascinated as each of his heavenly friends shared how they each became Christian's.

Sari: " I remember being in college. My parents sent me to the American University to study business and finance. They wanted me to be successful and they knew that  America had very good schools where  I would get a good education.  One day while studying, I met a fellow Christian student."  Sari paused to reflect. " Mark comes over and starts talking to me about the weather, what I was studying, what I was planning to be when I graduated.  He told me about his plans about wanting to start his own business so he could have time to do trips around the world to do mission work."  Sari pondered on that thought before continuing, " Mark had a bible that I could tell had been read cover to cover because he seemed to have so much knowledge and the pages looked as though they had been turned over and over again. We talked about the Koran and the bible over lunch over the rest of the school year. He invited me to meet his parents and experience an American holiday. I was given a gift which was the bible in the Arabic language. I read it and one night I had a dream where Jesus spoke to me. I knew at that point that this Jesus that the bible talked about was real.  I told Mark about the dream and he leads me in a prayer inviting Jesus to come into my life."

Paul: " Sari, what was the one thing you noticed after your received Christ?"

Sari reflected on this question before answering.

Sari: " It was how Christ took the burden of having to perform my daily rituals away. I remember reading in the bible about how Christ makes all things clean and we were no longer obligated by the customary law of sacrifices. For the first time in my earthly life, I felt freedom almost like breathing in a batch of fresh air for the first time."

Sari's two friends nodded in agreement.

Abraham:  " Total freedom. I remember when a friend gave me the new testament and being struck by the knowledge that Jesus's death and resurrection on the cross meant that I was no longer obligated to the rituals of my faith because his resurrection gave me total freedom because He finished it for me.

Arashi looked on and exclaimed.  " Living the life of a Buddhist was a life of rituals,  I remember an American friend giving me a bible and when I read the gospels of Mark, Luke and John how relieved I was knowing that Christ accomplished it all with his death and resurrection on the cross. One night, I saw Jesus Christ in my dream.  This American friend shared that I could know Christ on a personal level by simply praying the prayer of salvation."

Paul asked his friend what it was like after he said that prayer. Arashi smiled, "I felt peace. I felt like this burden had been lifted from my shoulder. I felt incredible joy and happiness just knowing that God had a plan for my life."

Paul looked on with a smile knowing that these three unlikely brothers would be discouraged from becoming friends on earth were now heavenly friends because of what Jesus did for each of them.

Sari looked at the 4 grand pianos in the shop. " Would you mind if we all sat down at a piano and played?"

Paul showed approval as each of them took a piano. Since there were 4 pianos Paul decided to sit down at one.

Each of them began, on cue, to play Handel's Messiah.  

As the music filtered out of the shop, the song birds flew to a tree limb outside and the children who were playing nearby ran over to watch them play.

' It has turned out to be another beautiful day in heaven', Paul thought, as he played on the hand crafted piano he made with these 3 heavenly friends he met.