Is There a GPS to Heaven?

Sr Lini Sheeja, MSC from Germany reflects on the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 25:34-40.

Has every human being got a destination in life? If so, how can we reach it? Is there any Global Positioning System (GPS) that will take us to this destination? All of us long for something on our journey here on earth and that undoubtedly is to reach Heaven which is our final destination. Today, in our modern world there is a GPS to reach our destination. The GPS tells its user always the best route and its directions are marvellous. Is the destination of an Indian for USA or the destination of an American for England or the destination of a German for Italy? Whether he is Indian or American or British or Italian, our final destination remains the same which is to reach heaven! Now, does our Holy Bible give us the GPS to arrive at this destination? If so, where can we find this GPS? We find the way to our destination given in Matthew 7:21 which says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”

Directions to Heaven

Now the question is to discover  what is the will of the Father may be? What does the GPS from the Holy Bible tell us about reaching heaven? Jesus is very practical when He describes to us certain clear routs to reach heaven. He not only says that by doing the Father’s will we shall reach heaven, but he describes wonderfully what the will of the Father is! The GPS to heaven given by our Redeemer Jesus is specific and not wavering. Let us read further, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me’ Mt 25:34-40.

Have you downloaded the GPS?

Now, our destination is clear before us, the way to reach it is given to us and the directions are described by the One whom we expect to meet in heaven. Is this not interesting to know this GPS? Today, throughout the world, GPS is used for travels as it has many advantages. It is extremely easy to navigate and directs us precisely towards our destination. Likewise, Mt 25:34-40 directs us exactly towards our destination. Now the question is how many of us have downloaded it or set up this GPS in our lives?

Jesus: The GPS Master

Jesus had identified Himself as the Good Shepherd, a Shepherd who knows the voice of His sheep. What happened in the parable of the Lost Sheep? A sheep is lost and entangled in the midst of thorns and thistles in the wilderness and the shepherd knows that the sheep will perish and so he goes in search of it. God possesses always that nature, going in search of the lost. And that is the reason the Heart of God always goes in search of the sad, the broken, the vulnerable, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty and all those in prison. When Jesus demands us to do the will of the Father, He says that He has done it already and hence it’s possible for us too! Jesus makes His calling very clear, in Mk 2:17, in which He says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”.

The Special GPS: To go where the Broken are!

The GPS of Jesus is just easy to use by every human and possible for everyone. We have before us these interesting facts: Jesus never said that if we heal a leaper or cast out the demons or build institutions or go with someone for a picnic, then we shall reach heaven. His directions to reach heaven are more than we ever thought of! We only have just to go! To go where the hungry and thirsty are! To go where the strangers are! To go where the sick are! To go where the naked are! To go where the captives are! To sum up, all that Jesus said is to go where the abandoned are! To go and keep going to where the broken are! The poor and the marginalised need us!

Jesus is very brilliant in the sense that He never says that the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers and the prisoners will come to your door and you care for them and then heaven will open before you! Rather, He is systematic in presenting His GPS to every follower, ‘I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me’. The world GPS says to go and the GPS of Jesus also tells us to go! ‘Come, I’m sick! Come, I’m in prison’ is the invitation of our Master and when we have received this invitation wholeheartedly, another invitation comes to our door where Jesus awaits with the words of blessing, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’.

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Sr Lini Sheeja MSC, belongs to the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. She worked as the team member of Child-line, BOSCO Bangalore. She served as the Geriatric Medical Social Worker at St John’s Medical College Hospital, Bangalore. Her motto My God provides and so no child should go uneducated makes her to reach out many orphan and children in distress. She served as the National Secretary of Prison Ministry India. She also served as the Chief-Editor for Prison Voice, a national monthly magazine and is the author of five books. In her fourth book named, Prison Ministry: The Dreamers’ Mission she invites the dreamers to join hands together to do wonders for the broken ones. Contact: [email protected].