I grew up hearing the saying that “repetition is the mother of learning,” and it appears people really believed it. When my mom wanted us to learn how to keep our closets clean and in order, she would make us fold our clothes neatly every time things got messy in there. When my teachers wanted us to really know something, they would make us memorize sentences and sometimes entire paragraphs and recite them out loud. I can tell you now as an adult, the repetition worked! I can’t stand a cluttered closet and when I read something that I find important, I write it down and memorize it.

God relates to us in the same way. He repeats the things that are important to know, calling our attention again and again to the things that matter until they are so ingrained in us that they can’t not affect the way we live our lives. That’s why He tells us about heaven so often.

A quick study on the most frequent themes in the New Testament shows that there are 387 verses referring to heaven. For perspective, there are about 150 verses referring to hell, 114 occurrences of “grace”, and 30-40 verses about marriage. I don’t know about you, but I think the hope of heaven is on repeat in God’s playlist for humanity.

Why is it so important for us to hear about heaven? What does it have to do with our present circumstances that might look nothing like heaven?

Perhaps nothing will encourage us more to persevere through our struggles than the hope of what awaits us. Perhaps we need reminders that our ultimate home is heaven, and everything on this earth is only temporary. Perhaps even when life is good here and now, we should know the best is yet to come. Or perhaps God is simply trying to show us that we are His beloved, called to eternal loving union with Him.

Even Christmas is all about heaven! As I think about the meaning of this season, I can’t help but realize that Christ has entered our world so that we can enter His.