David Jeremiah - Won't Heaven Be Boring?
Today I want to talk with you about the subject of heaven and why it won’t be boring. And I want to begin with a little epitaph, an old poem about a tired housewife that’s been shared for years in books and cards. I don’t know who wrote it, but it goes like this: «Here lies a poor woman who was always tired. She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired. Her last words on earth were, 'Dear friends, I am going, where there’s no cooking or washing or sewing. For everything there is exact to my wishes. For where they don’t eat, there’s no washing of dishes. I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing, but having no voice, I’ll be spared of the singing. Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never. I’m going to do nothing forever and ever».
And you know, that’s what a lot of people think heaven is all about, isn’t it? They think heaven is just going someplace and floating around on a cloud for eternity. And when you say that’s not the way it is, «Well, isn’t heaven boring»? they say. And that’s the ultimate put-down in today’s society. If it’s boring, it can’t be good. I remember reading Michael Crichton, one of the most brilliant writers and producers in our time. He wrote a bestseller called «Timeline».
One of his characters, Robert Doniger, is the CEO of a powerful and highly secretive technology company. And near the end of the book, Doniger stands up before his audience in his company’s auditorium, and he says this: «In other centuries, human beings wanted to be saved or improved or freed or educated. But in our century, they want to be entertained. The great fear is not the fear of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of nothing to do, a sense that we are not amused. Where will this mania of entertainment end»?
And, of course, the iPhone has had a lot to do with that. We have to have something going on every minute of every day. And with that as the backdrop, the thought of going to heaven and there not being anything to do is frightening to most people. With this fear of boredom on our hearts, it’s no wonder we’re concerned about heaven. I mean, if we think we’re bored down here, what in the world will it be like when we get up there? Unfortunately, there are just many Christians who believe that heaven will be boring. All we’ll be doing forever is strumming harps, floating on clouds, and polishing the streets of gold. But I want to give you five reasons today why heaven will not be boring.
Reason number one: Heaven will not be boring because God is not boring. You’ve probably heard this verse before, but never in this context. Psalm 16:11: «God, You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore». What exists in God’s presence? Fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. When we’re with God, we’re on the scene of endless explosions of absolute pleasure and joy, and that’s what heaven will always be like.
Our God is the most exciting, adventuresome, creative person you can ever imagine, multiplied a billion times over. And the new heavens and the new earth and the city of New Jerusalem will reflect his exuberance. We can’t begin to comprehend the excitement that belongs to the triune God with whom we’re gonna spend eternity. He spoke the universe into existence. Think of that. He made the elephant, the eagle, the earthworm. He created a donkey that could speak. He created a fish that could swallow a man, and a flock of ravens that could feed a prophet. He sweeps his hand across the sky, turning it into a crimson blaze of glory.
He’s the one who can ignite volcanoes and send meteors hurling through space and zap the blackened skies with lightning bolts and thunder claps. God turned the Nile into blood and well water into wine. He flung fire from heaven in response to Elijah’s prayers. He answered Job out of the whirlwind. He delivered Daniel from the lion’s den, and he caused the sun and moon to stand still for Joshua.
Randy Alcorn, who’s written a book on heaven, a great book, he said, «Our belief that heaven will be boring betrays a heresy that God is boring. There is no greater nonsense. Our desire for pleasure and the experience of joy come greatly and directly from God’s hand. He made our taste buds. He made adrenaline. He made our sex drives and the nerve endings that convey pleasure to our brains. Likewise, our imaginations and our capacity for joy and exhilaration were made by the very God we accuse of being boring. Are we so arrogant that we imagine that human beings came up with the idea of having fun»? No, heaven will not be boring because the God we love and serve is not boring.
Here’s second reason: Heaven will not be boring not only because God is not boring, but because Jesus is not boring. Heaven will not be boring because we’ll be physically and visually close to Christ. Think of what an exciting life the apostles experienced. When you read the Gospels and every day they woke up, they didn’t know what was gonna happen. They were walking with the Son of God. They heard the Sermon on the Mount with their own ears. They watched their nets strain with fish at the bidding of Christ. They stood in awe as dead people returned to life. They participated in inexplicable miracles like the taming of vicious storms. They experienced the greatest surprise of their lives when Jesus suddenly appeared to them on the day of his resurrection.
And he’s gonna be in heaven, and you think heaven’s gonna be boring? Are you kidding me? All of us who have sought to walk with Christ through the years know that the Christian life is one of joy and comfort, excitement, and sometimes uncertainty as we wait to see what the Lord is gonna do next. But he’s with us in every pattern of weather as our lives change. He gives daily strength for daily needs. He provides promises and answers prayer. Listen to me, the Christian life is a great adventure if you walk with the Lord. But let me put this all in perspective for you.
Peter said, «Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory». Everything I’ve described to you so far is for us to view through our reading and through our minds; we haven’t seen it. But one day we’re gonna see him, and the Bible says we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. If he’s as wonderful as he is having not seen him, wait till we see him. And when we see him, he’s gonna be overwhelming.
So, heaven won’t be boring because God is not boring, and Jesus is not boring, and you’re gonna have to really trust me with this one. Heaven will not be boring because you will not be boring. «Where in the world do you find that in the Bible, Dr. Jeremiah»? Well, let me tell you what Paul wrote. He said, «Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet». Paul said we’re all going to be, what? Changed. Not changed for the worst, changed for the better. In Philippians, he put it another way: «For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,» now watch this, «who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body».
What Paul is telling us in these two passages of scripture is that when we go to heaven, on our way up, we’re gonna be transformed, and we’re gonna get bodies just like the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ. They won’t age, they won’t get tired, they won’t malfunction or grow sick or weak, and we’ll have all the energy and drive and ambition imaginable, and our bodies will never weaken or suffer fatigue. We can be at the full height of joy every day, 24 hours a day, without ever wearing out. Can you imagine that?
As you know, I have been, I guess you could call it sick. I’ve had this condition that I got on Labor Day in '23, where I lost the use of the lower part of my body, and I’ve been trying to get it back, little by little, and it’s coming back. But what I’ve discovered during this time was I’ve had to have sort of an edited version of the old David Jeremiah. The old David Jeremiah would say yes to anything anybody asked him to do and do it with all his heart and tired at night, but do it again the next day. But I can’t do that anymore. You have to put your situation into the setting that you can do. As you get older, things get different, and you can’t do everything you used to do. I know that doesn’t sound like good news. It’s just true. The Bible says our resurrected and heavenly bodies, we’re gonna be able to experience everything at the highest experience value all the time without ever being tired of being happy. Can you imagine that?
So heaven won’t be boring because God the Father’s not gonna be boring and he’ll be there. Jesus Christ who will be there in his human body, he won’t be boring. We know what he’s like. We’ve studied him in the Gospels. You’ll be there and you won’t be boring because you’re gonna have a makeover on the way up. And then the Bible teaches also that heaven will not be boring because your friendships won’t be boring.
Some people say, «Well, when I get to heaven, I won’t know anybody». Well, friendship doesn’t end at heaven’s gate. It will flourish like never before. The scripture hints that our relationships won’t be erased, but they’ll be redeemed. They’ll be deepened. They’ll be made eternal. Jesus spoke of sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom, and Paul encouraged believers with the hope that we’ll be reunited together forever with our families and our loved ones.
In Luke 16:9, Jesus spoke of eternal dwellings where friends welcome each other. Imagine strolling through the golden streets of the New Jerusalem with a friend, marveling at the breathtaking beauty of God’s creation. Walking together by the crystal clear river of life, watching the trees bear fruit in every season, and join the multitudes in worshiping the Lamb who was slain. Every moment will be filled with pure joy, deep love, and wonder. No jealousy, no insecurity, no weariness, just the love of Christ.
And then this one might surprise you, but it doesn’t surprise me because I understand this one completely. Heaven will not be boring because your work will not be boring. Work is a blessing; it’s not a curse. Somebody said, «If you do something you like to do, you’ll never work a day in your life». That’s kind of the way I feel. You know, I don’t work. This is what I do. This is who I am. Well, heaven is not a place of idleness. It’s a place of joyful activity and meaningful service.
One of the most consistent themes running through the book of Revelation is that of serving God. When we’re in heaven, we’re gonna serve God. From beginning to end, heaven is described as a realm where God’s people serve him. I could give you many, many scriptures. Here’s a few: Revelation 7:15: «Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple». Revelation 19:5: «Then a voice from the throne, saying, 'Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both great and small! '» Revelation 22:3: «And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him».
And when you get to heaven and you walk in the door as a believer, listen to the welcoming speech you’re gonna get from God: «Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things». You had a little job here, but I’m giving you a big job up here. «Enter into the joy of your lord». And that verse doesn’t sound to me like we’re gonna be sitting around doing nothing forever and ever in heaven. Doesn’t sound like retirement but a promotion. In other words, eternal life is not a break from work. It is a breakthrough to better work. It is purpose without pressure. It’s service without fatigue, and it’s joy without end.
So there you have it, five reasons why heaven won’t be boring. Don’t forget them. God won’t be boring. Jesus won’t be boring. You won’t be boring. Your work won’t be boring. The Bible teaches us there’s a lot of good reasons to get excited about heaven. Heaven is everything you’ve ever enjoyed on earth, multiplied a million times over, if it’s good and godly. Romans 8:22–23 says: «For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body».
Paul wrote to the Romans and he said, we Christians, we groan because we were made for more than what we can ever experience in this world. We were not created to have ultimate joy in this world. We were created to have ultimate joy in heaven when we get with God. So heaven won’t be boring because it’s the fulfillment of every desire in your heart. God made us this way. He made us to yearn, to always be hungry for something we can’t get, to always be missing something we can’t find, and an untamable restlessness that no discovery can still. Yearning itself is healthy, a kind of compass inside of us pointing us true North.
We long for heaven and we long for God, and when we finally get to heaven, that longing will be met, and it will be the most fulfilling and satisfying emotion we have ever known. It will be the exact opposite of boring. I can hear us all saying, «Aha, finally, now it’s all together. This is what I’ve been looking for all of my life». King David had that hunger, and it came out in many of his Psalms, especially in this one: Psalm 27:4: «One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple».
David didn’t want more of this world. He wanted more of the presence of God. And that is where our deepest satisfaction will always be found. Only in heaven will we finally feel the completeness that we were created to enjoy. I know I’m in New York City where Broadway reigns and where plays are pretty prominent, and so you’ll bear with me if I just use this closing illustration carefully. There are a few songs that capture our desire for heaven like «Somewhere Over the Rainbow». It swept the world like a tornado when Judy Garland, playing Dorothy, sang it in the 1939 film, «The Wizard of Oz». In an early scene, Dorothy wonders out loud, «Do you suppose there is such a place, behind the moon, behind the rain»? Then she begins to sing, «Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high».
The songwriters Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen were both sons of Jewish immigrants. They wrote this song in 1939 as war loomed over Europe and, though safe in America, they felt the ache for something more: peace, safety, a place to belong. I think something like what we feel at this very time in our own lives. So they gave the world a lyric that still pulls at our heart: «Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true». It’s in our DNA to long for a better place, to ache for a place way up high where dreams really do come true. There’s only one place like that, friends, and it’s called heaven. Huckleberry Finn didn’t think much about heaven.
In the opening chapter of Mark Twain’s classic, «The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,» Huck is living with the spinster Miss Watson, a starchy, crabby old woman who is bent on reforming him. And she’s going to knock the wildness out of him and stuff him full of manners. Her principal weapon was religion. She bludgeons him with Bible verses. She threatens him with hell. She coaxes him with heaven. And in his streetwise, cocky, cock-eyed way, Huck tells us what he thinks of all of that. He says, «She went on and told me all about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was go around all day with a harp and sing forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it. I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said, 'Not by a considerable sight.' I was glad about that because I wanted him and me to be together».
Can you blame him if that’s what heaven is? An endless dull hymn, singing in the clouds, who would want to go there? But that’s not the heaven the Bible describes. Let me say it again, heaven will not be boring, not even close, because God isn’t boring, you aren’t boring, your friends aren’t boring, your work isn’t boring, and most of all, heaven is the place your soul has been searching for, for your entire life. So don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. Heaven will be the most thrilling, joy-filled, adventure-packed reality you have ever known, multiplied beyond anything you can imagine. You want to know what boring is? Imagine being locked in solitary confinement forever, cut off from every relationship, stuck with nothing but regret.
That’s how the Bible describes hell. Thessalonians 1:9 says: «These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power». In hell, there will be no friendships, no laughter, no hope, just endless separation. It’s the absence of everything good. Heaven is the party. Heaven is where the joy is. And here’s the best part. You can know today that heaven is in your future. For Jesus said, «I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be also».
And he made it so simple. He said, «I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except through Me». What a wonderful promise that is. He didn’t just say, «Go that way». No, he said, «I am the way. I will take you to heaven». If you want to go to heaven, you have to let Jesus take you there by accepting what he did on the cross for your sin and asking for forgiveness. And when you pray that prayer, you will invite Jesus Christ into your life and you will become a Christian.