Revelation 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Recently on a Friday morning, I was thinking about all the campers who would be going back to what we often call “the real world.” I was thinking about the fact that it would soon be Monday morning again and they would all be back to the grind, back to work, or back to whatever they had come from. I was also thinking about all that is not in Heaven. Revelation 7 tells us some of the things that are not in Heaven. You see, Heaven is wonderful, not just for what is there, but because of what is not there.
For instance, Revelation 7:16 tells us, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.” There is no hunger, no thirst, and no scorching sun in Heaven. The last part of verse 17 tells us that “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” So, ultimately there will be no tears in Heaven. You see, the Lord is everything for us at that time.
Verse 17 says, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.” The Lord is everything. He will feed; He will lead; He will shelter. The Bible says, “He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” Literally it means that He shall “tabernacle over them.” He is a shade from scorching heat. He is the One Who feeds and leads.
There is no hunger, no thirst, no scorching sun, no tears, and there is no work in Heaven. Wait! Actually, that is not completely true! Verse 15 says, “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” Toil is sin’s curse, but service is God’s design. Serving God is not a bad thing; it is a good thing!
Sometimes it is hard for us to distinguish between the good things that God originally intended and the curse that has come to befall them because of this sin-cursed earth. There is no sin curse in Heaven. There is no sin in Heaven so there is no toil in that sense, but there is service. Day and night there is service in Heaven.
There is nothing bad in Heaven, and that means that serving God is not a bad thing. If it is not a bad thing and if it is part of what makes Heaven the wonderful place that it is, then we need to learn to love serving God now because it will be one of the greatest pleasures we will have when we get to Heaven.