24 Your procession, God, has come into view,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians;
with them are the young women playing the timbrels.
26 Praise God in the great congregation;
praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.
27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,
there the great throng of Judah’s princes,
and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali. Psalm 68:24-27

This is probably what the songwriter of “When the Saints Go Marching In” was thinking about when he wrote those famous lyrics. The parades and festivals they have around the world during Mardi Gras is absolutely nothing compared to what it will be like during The Great Procession. How do I know this? Well, for one thing there will be no debauchery and drunkenness in that Great Procession. The saints will be honoring and glorifying the One Who Saved Them. But it will be far from boring!

On the contrary. Imagine the throngs of people in that procession. The shock of experiencing heaven will still be present. The newness and reality of it all will fill our hearts and minds with wonder.

Imagine what it’s like to never stop gazing at His glory, and continuing to wonder what you did to deserve it all. (the answer, of course, is ‘we did nothing to deserve it’ and that’s the beauty of it)

I used to think that streets of gold and gates made of pearl would be fantastic. But here’s something someone recently said about that. “If that’s what God is using for construction material, imagine what all of heaven is like.”

We know very little about heaven and the Great Procession leading up to it, but we do know this: it will be better than we ever imagine it would be. We will not be disappointed.