Note to the Reader

How many times have you thought about Heaven in the

last week? Have you brought up the subject or asked anyone
a question about Heaven? Unless a person or a pet close to
you has died (or is dying), the topic of Heaven may not have
crossed your mind. Still, since you have this book in your
hand, you’re already beginning to think about Heaven. Good
for you!
This book has questions many people have asked about
life after death. As you read it, you might find some of the
questions you’ve asked. You’ll probably also find some ques-
tions you’ve never thought about asking. But I think you’ll
find most of them very interesting. I’ve tried to base my ans-
wers to these questions on what God tells us about Heaven
in the Bible. (There are a lot of wrong ideas about Heaven,
but we can always depend on what the Bible has to say.) At
the beginning of each chapter, you’ll find two quotes—one
from the Bible and one from The Chronicles of Narnia—
that will start you thinking about the ideas in the chapter.
But now it’s time to turn the page and take a look at
the first question and answer. You may want to read just
one at a time, or you may read several in one sitting. You’ll
probably want to look up some of the Bible verses too. You
and your family could do that together. It’s always fun to
talk with your friends about the things you’re reading, so
you could bring up what you’re learning with them.
Enjoy exploring life in Heaven. After all, it’s a place
where you can live forever someday—a place without fear,
anger, sadness, or sickness. And it’s not just a place without
bad stuff. It’s a place full of great stuff: beauty, joy, fun, lots

xvii
of activity, and rest when you need it. We’ll have endless
adventures together with Jesus and each other. It’s a place
where you can live with the wonderful and fascinating God
who created you. And it’s a place where you can hang out
with all sorts of kind and interesting people who will be your
friends forever.
Cool!
Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this book!

xviii
WHY SHOULD WE LOOK
FORWARD TO HEAVEN?
We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.
And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
Philippians 3:20

[ Jewel the Unicorn] cried: “I have come home at last! This is my

real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking
for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why
we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like
this. . . . Come further up, come further in!”
C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle

1
2 Randy Alcorn

Do I really need to think about Heaven?

Suppose your dad or mom told you that you were
moving to a new place. What’s the first thing you’d
do? Ask questions, right? You’d want to know the
who, what, when, where, and why about the place
where you were going to live.
Now pretend you’re part of a NASA team
preparing for a five-year mission to Mars. After
a period of heavy-duty training, the launch date
finally arrives. As the rocket lifts off, one of the
other astronauts says to you, “What do you know
about Mars?”
Imagine shrugging your shoulders and saying,
“Nothing. We never talked about it. I guess we’ll
find out when we get there.” Think that would hap-
pen? Not likely, right? Part of your training would
have prepared you for where you would be living
for the next five years. You would have talked about
Mars 24/7, wouldn’t you? After all, that’s where you
were headed!
Maybe at some point you’ve said, “I believe
Jesus died for the wrong things I’ve done” (more
about that in chapter ten). Perhaps you’ve already
asked for his forgiveness and placed your trust
in him. If so, the Bible promises that Heaven
Heaven for Kids 3

will be your future home. Jesus said so himself.

“There is more than enough room in my Father’s
home. If this were not so, would I have told you
that I am going to prepare a place for you? When
everything is ready, I will come and get you, so
that you will always be with me where I am”
( John 14:2-3).
When my family goes on a trip, we like to
know in advance what it’s like where we’re going.
If we’re planning a vacation, we look at the bro-
chures and maps and Web sites. We learn about
the attractions—all the things that make it a place
we want to visit.
Finding out in advance about the Grand
Canyon or Disney World or summer camp helps
us get excited and look forward to going there.
The Bible says, “We are looking forward to the
new heavens and new earth he has promised, a
world filled with God’s righteousness” (2 Peter
3:13). But we won’t really look forward to that
place unless we know something about its attrac-
tions before we get there, right?
So if Heaven—or as that verse calls it, “the
new heavens and new earth”—will be your home
someday, wouldn’t it be great to learn all you can
4 Randy Alcorn

about it now? That way you can spend your whole

life looking forward to the place that will be your
home forever!
That’s what this book is all about.

Isn’t it enough just to think about being

with Jesus?
Each of us is made for a person. And we’re also
made for a place. Jesus is the person. Heaven is
the place.
Jesus lives in Heaven and is getting a place
ready for us there. So if we look forward to being
with Jesus, that’s the same as looking forward to
Heaven. Why? Because that’s where we’ll be with
him. So whenever we think about being with Jesus,
we’re thinking about Heaven. And whenever we
think about Heaven, we should be thinking about
Jesus.

What do I look forward to?

But let’s be honest. Are you really looking forward
to going to Heaven? Maybe in seventy or eighty
years, right? After you’ve done all the things you
want to do.
Heaven for Kids 5

Think about some things you do look forward to:

• Christmas or another favorite holiday

• Your birthday, your sister’s birthday (well,

maybe not), or even your dog’s birthday

• Going to your favorite place (like a water

park, the beach, the woods, the river, or
maybe SeaWorld or Six Flags)

• The last day of school and the start of

summer vacation

• Seeing a movie you’ve been told is really,

really good

• Getting the next book in your favorite series

Why do you look forward to those things?

“Duh,” you might say. The answer is obvious.
Because of what you already know about these
things, you use your God-given imagination.
You can almost taste, feel, smell, hear, and see
all of the wonderful things you expect.
For example, if your birthday’s coming up,
you might taste, feel, smell, hear, and see chocolate
cake with thick frosting, the laughter of friends,
6 Randy Alcorn

and presents. Maybe you’re looking forward to

seeing cousins, aunts, and uncles you haven’t seen
in a while. Or perhaps you’re counting on getting
lots of cool presents.
But guess what? Looking forward to Heaven
is no different. In fact, looking forward to Heaven
is even better than looking forward to Christmas
or your birthday! Yet many people find that hard
to believe because they don’t know how to picture
Heaven. They don’t know how to look forward
to it.
Does that describe you?

What do people believe about Heaven?

Speaking of describing, what are some words you
would use to describe Heaven? Would fun and excit-
ing be words you’d use?
It might surprise you to discover that many peo-
ple find no joy at all when they think about Heaven.
Wondering why? They don’t look forward to going
there because of what they believe Heaven is like.
Gary Larson showed a common view of
Heaven in one of his Far Side cartoons. In it a man
with angel wings and a halo sits on a cloud, doing
nothing, with no one nearby. He has the expression
Heaven for Kids 7

of someone stuck on a desert island, bored because

he has absolutely nothing to do. A caption shows
what he’s thinking: “Wish I’d brought a magazine.”
Is that your view of what Heaven will be like?
Or is it what someone you know thinks? Many
people fear that Heaven will be . . . well, boring.
When you were younger, maybe you saw the
movie All Dogs Go to Heaven. Think w-a-a-a-y
back. Charles B. Barkin (Charlie), a German shep-
herd, goes to Heaven because, of course, everyone
thinks “all dogs go to Heaven”! But Charlie doesn’t
want to be in Heaven. Why? Because there are no
surprises—no exciting ones anyway. Everything
is predictable. Even the temperature is a steady
seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit, which sounds
boring to Charlie. He prefers the excitement of
life on Earth to an eternity of floating on a cloud,
wearing wings and a halo. So he ditches Heaven
to return to Earth.
In the sequel (All Dogs Go to Heaven 2), Charlie
explains his frustrations with Heaven when he sings,
“It’s too heavenly here. It’s too peaceful and paradise-
like.” In other words, Heaven is too dull for him.
Predictable? Boring? Endless years of the same
old, same old? No one would look forward to that!
8 Randy Alcorn

Well, I’ve got some good news for you. Charlie got
it all wrong. Heaven is not like that at all. No way!
Have you ever read any of the books about Peter
Pan and wished you could live in a beautiful, magical
place like Neverland—but without Captain Hook
and all the mean pirates? Well, Heaven is a better
place than Neverland any day. How do I know?
From what the Bible says about it.
That’s why this book provides another view of
Heaven: as a place worth thinking and talking and
dreaming about. In fact, once you understand what
the Bible really says about Heaven, you can’t help but
look forward to living there!
 eternal perspective ministries
with author Randy Alcorn

Learn more about Heaven for Kids

In a language kids can understand, Randy Alcorn
explores Biblical answers to the questions kids often have
about Heaven. Intended for kids age 8-12, Heaven for Kids
is sure to be an excellent resource for families, especially
those in which the parents have read the adult book and
wish to pass on that same level of understanding to their
children.
Purchase this book

About Randy Alcorn

Randy is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective
Ministries and the best-selling author of over 50 books
(over nine million in print) including Heaven, The Treasure
Principle, and the Gold Medallion winner Safely Home.

About Eternal Perspective Ministries

Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM) is a nonprofit ministry dedicated to
teaching principles of God’s Word and assisting the church in ministering to
the unreached, unfed, unborn, uneducated, and unsupported people around
the world. You can order all of Randy’s books and products through EPM’s
online store at www.epm.org.