“Beware of the sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.” Galadriel, the wise queen elf who seemed to have a prophetic eye, spoke these words to Legolas, the cool wood elf in J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. 

  The fantasy world that Tolkien created was known as “middle earth”. The elves had inhabited middle earth for thousands of years but it wasn’t their true home. Of course you wouldn’t know that by looking at their great halls and kingdoms in the tops of the giant trees, but their true home was an eternal place that lay somewhere beyond the great sea. It was a place that could not be found by mortals, a place that could only be reached by an enchanted ship, a place called Eressa, the elven home.

  Eressa was not something that Legolas seemed to care about much; he was born in middle earth. This was the only home he knew. And for the time being he had things to do, people needed his help, and there was an evil foe to defeat. He was also very loyal, he served his leader well, and he fought many battles alongside the rest of the fellowship. Then one day as Aragorn led them around the back side of Gondor on their way to the battle, they went to the sea. They captured enemy ships and used them to speed their way to Gondor. It was there that Legolas heard the cry of the sea gulls. 

  If you have ever been to the beach you have heard the cry of the gulls, it’s not a particularly enchanting sound. I like it because I love the ocean and that is just part of the scenery. To Legolas the sound had a different effect. The cry of the gulls awakened something deep inside him, something he didn’t even know was there, it was a longing in his heart to be where he really belonged, to go to a home that he had never seen before. From that moment on something had changed within him. He was no longer satisfied with his situation. He still loved his friends and was still loyal to them, but he was always looking toward the sea.

  Has the call to heaven been awakened in you yet? Every human being has a call to heaven, there is something better for us, life is not just what we see and do here on this earth, there is so much more. We try to satisfy our hearts with the things of this world and still feel empty at the end of the day. That’s because we are spiritual beings who were created by a loving God and we were never meant to be separated from Him. Once we give our hearts to Jesus the things of this world no longer hold the appeal that they once did. 

  Once Legolas heard the cry of the gulls, Middle Earth was ruined for him. In the same way this world is ruined for the one who has eyes for heaven. But unlike Legolas we don’t have to wait until we cross the blue sea to experience it. God is here now, and He is more than willing to bring you into the experience of Him now. 

  The pursuit of Heaven will cost you everything, but then you come to find out what you thought was everything was really nothing. The Apostle Paul was at the top of his game before Jesus Christ invaded his life. He was the most zealous Pharisee of his day, the top persecutor of Christians. In his world he had climbed the ladder, then suddenly Jesus Christ knocked him down with His brilliant light and this world was ruined for him, he had heard the cry of the gulls. Later in his writings he said that he counted all his past success as garbage compared to knowing Christ. 

  Everyone lives with a feeling deep inside that there has to be something more, I’m here to tell you there is. The door to heaven is wide open and it’s time to experience something real. Everything we work for in this world is temporary. 

Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

  The eternal is so much more than the temporary. Let the call of God ruin the pursuit of the temporary. How do we do this? By becoming fascinated with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not by doing good works that we store up treasures in heaven, but by realizing how much Jesus loves us and what He has done for us. Then we repent for the worthless lifestyle we have lived and surrender fully to Him. Then He will embrace us and fill you with His Spirit which changes everything. The pursuit of the world seems less important and we desire more to obey God. 

  Then we begin to focus on the relationships we have made in life. We want those to be eternal as well. We don’t want the people we care about to miss out, we want them to be in heaven with us someday and know the same love we have experienced. And so we do what we can to help them hear “The cry of the gulls” and whatever the cost, it’s worth it.