Years ago, the little country church I attended welcomed a missionary who grew up nearby in St. Thomas, Missouri. She and her husband served in Russia and had helped start a drug rehabilitation program. Our church supported their ministry, and they wanted to tell us thank you. They brought along two Russian men from the program, who shared amazing testimonies of God’s love. We all sang “Amazing Grace” together, they in Russian, we in English. It was a wonderful blessing to feel the bond of God’s love between us.

I also received a personal blessing from the woman missionary, though I don’t think she realized it. She had been to our church before, and she remembered me. “I prayed with you,” she said. Indeed, she had. What a wonderful bond to have! We had once stood before God together as two of His daughters. In agreement, we had brought our requests before His throne. What does the world have to compare to such a connection?

I don’t know what heaven will be like — what we will remember from this life and what we will have forgotten. But I wonder if there won’t be similar reunions on the streets of gold. “You’re so-and-so, aren’t you? I remember you. We prayed together.” No bond on earth can compare with the bond of love that ties God’s children together, for it’s a bond that unites people from all places and times and for all eternity. Perhaps we could all take time in our prayers today to thank God for the love He gives His children to share, now and forever.

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12 NIV