I was exposed to a powerfully convicting word recently (reader beware). In his book God is the Gospel, John Piper essentially asks whether we are in love with God. This is significant. When Jesus was asked what the most important command in the Bible was He summed it up in a couple of sentences. Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:28-31).
Piper wrote, "The critical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"
I think most people would really wrestle with that question. If heaven could still be heaven for you without Jesus there as long as everything else was good...it's probably a good indication that the Great Commandment of Jesus is probably in need of some spiritual attention. It is a good diagnostic question relating to spiritual health. If you could live without Jesus "there" then you may be living most of life without Him "here." It's worth some thinking time.
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