Would you be happy in Heaven if God were not there?

This morning my Bible Study discussed this Piper quote. 

Treasuring Christ Above All Other Things

“ Would you be happy in heaven if God were not there? “

“The question must be asked: why do you want to go to heaven? They might answer,

‘Because the alternative is painful.’ Or ‘because my deceased wife is there.’ Or

‘because there will be a new heaven and a new earth where justice and beauty will

finally be everywhere.’ . . . So what’s wrong with those answers? What’s wrong with

them is that they do not treat God as the final and highest good of the gospel.

They do not express a supreme desire to be with God. God was not even

mentioned. Only his gifts were mentioned. These gifts are precious but they are not

God . . . Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above

seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ

were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven;

it is a way to get people to God . . . If we don’t want God above all things, we

have not been converted by the Gospel.”

– John Piper, God is the Gospel pp. 46-47.

Do you see Christ as more valuable than all other things, even the gifts

God gives us? Is Christ your treasure?

Pastor and Author John Piper offers four practical ways to live this

verse out.

1.) “To live this out practically it means that whenever I am called

upon to choose between anything in this world and Christ, I choose

Christ.”

2.) “To live this out practically it means that I will deal with the things of

this world in ways that draw me nearer to Christ so that I gain more of

Christ and enjoy more of Him by the way I see the world.”

3.) “To live this out practically it means that I will always deal with the

things of this world in ways that show that they are not my treasure, but

rather show that Christ is my treasure.”

4.) “To live this out practically it means that if I lose any or all the

things this world can offer, I will not lose my joy or my treasure or my

life , because Christ is all.”

What would it practically look like in your life? What changes would do you need to make?