I still remember many years ago hearing this man (I can’t remember his name) describe the moment he first entered into a personal relationship with God.
He had been walking through a deep depression that he could not escape. When he finally came to Christ, everything changed. He struggled to find words for what he experienced.
Finally, he said this:
“It felt like the world went from black and white to color.”
He meant it literally.
Life didn’t suddenly become easy—but it became alive. It was as if he had been seeing everything in grayscale, only to realize—almost overnight—that color had been there all along.
When the Soul Encounters Beauty Again
Many years ago, I experienced something similar in a very different way.
I traveled from Richmond, leaving behind the bleakness of winter—the grays, the browns, the muted skies—and flew to Treasure Cay to visit my parents. As the plane descended, it was as if someone had flipped a switch on the television—from black and white to color.
The blues were impossibly blue.
The greens were alive.
The brightness nearly took my breath away.
It struck me how quickly the soul responds to beauty when it has been starved of it.
Have We Misunderstood Salvation?
Many of us struggle to feel excited about heaven. Even the idea of growing closer to Christ here on earth can sometimes feel confining or dull—like a narrowing rather than an opening of life.
But what if we’ve misunderstood the nature of salvation?
Jesus did not describe eternal life merely as a future destination, but as a present reality:
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
— John 17:3
Salvation is not simply rescue from punishment—it is an awakening to life as it was always meant to be lived.
Turning Up the Brightness Dial
Every real step toward Christ—every experience of His mercy, every encounter with grace—does not drain life of its vibrancy.
It turns up the brightness dial.
It sharpens color.
It deepens texture.
It awakens the senses of the soul.
Scripture hints at this unfolding clarity:
“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:16
If this is even partially true now, imagine what awaits us.
The Full Immersion to Come
I believe that when we finally arrive in heaven, the colors will take our breath away.
The sounds will awaken our ears and calm us at a depth we have never known.
The smells will stir anticipation of the Great Feast to come.
What we now experience in faint glimpses will bathe us, head to toe.
Saved Into Something Unimaginably Wonderful
Salvation is not a small thing.
Our lives are not merely a little better, and our future is not just marginally brighter.
Even now, we see dimly. Soon, we will see clearly.
Even now, we understand in part. Soon, we will understand fully.
We have been saved:
And we have been saved into an eternity of color, adventure, beauty, and life.
We have been saved.
Hallelujah.
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