Chapter 10 - The New Jerusalem

Finally, the hard time of winter was coming to a close. Daniel, Noah, and all of the other little ants with them came to a hill. They knew that they were getting close to the New Jerusalem because they started to hear the most beautiful singing they had ever heard. They also smelled the most wonderful smelling foods: hot pies, cakes, and lots of strawberries. They all started to get very excited as they climbed to the top of the hill.

When they reached the top, they saw it: the most beautiful city any of them had ever seen! There were angels flying around, playing, and singing everywhere. Beautiful colors and light were coming from the city. Every kind of animal that had chosen the Narrow Path was also there. As the ants stared at the beautiful city, they began to feel love coming from the city like a river. It wrapped around them tight, like a blanket. The ants walked up to the gates of the city, where two big angels were standing. The angels looked down at all of the little ants and smiled.

“Welcome to the New Jerusalem, friends!” they said with joy. “Jesus has been waiting for you a long time. He is very excited to see you!”

The angels opened the gates, and all of the ants walked in. The first thing that Daniel and Noah saw were the biggest peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they had ever seen. Next to the sandwiches were huge strawberries, bigger than an elephant’s head.

“The owl was right!” Daniel said excitedly.

“Yes, I was,” said a voice behind Daniel and Noah.

Daniel and Noah turned around to see who was talking to them. When they turned, they saw the owl, the horse, the eagles, the elephant, the giraffe, the turtle, and the lion. All of them were clapping for Daniel and Noah and shouting, “Well done little ants! You made it! Great job!”

Daniel and Noah felt so happy that they started to dance. All of the animals and angels began to dance with them. After they had danced for a while, suddenly everything became very quiet.

“What is happening?” Daniel and Noah asked the horse.

“Jesus is here,” the horse said, “and he wants to see you two.”

As soon as the horse said this, Daniel and Noah looked up and saw Jesus. He was more beautiful than anything they had ever imagined. And his smile was so big! Light and love were coming from him. He face was brighter than the sun. Jesus lowered his hand to the ground. They were amazed at Jesus, and kept staring at him.

“Come here, my friends,” he said.

Daniel and Noah crawled up onto Jesus’ hand. As they crawled, they noticed something different about themselves. They were shining too, like Jesus! After they had crawled onto his hand, Jesus lifted his hand close to his face and began to talk to Daniel and Noah.

“Daniel and Noah, welcome to my kingdom, welcome to the New Jerusalem. I’ve been waiting to see you for such a long time, and my heart is so happy to be with you now. Well done, little ants! You did not give up even during the hard, cold time of winter. You did not follow the snake and the lying king. I’m so, so proud of you. You are shining because I have given you brand new bodies that will never die.”

Then Jesus lifted his other hand and whispered to Noah, “There is someone who wants to see you.”

Noah looked to Jesus’ other hand, and there was his grandma! She had a brand new body! And she was shining too! Noah ran and jumped to the other hand and gave his grandma a great big hug. They hugged for a long time. 

Then Jesus shouted to everyone in a loud voice, “My little ants did not give up! They never left the Narrow Path! Now they will never die! We will be together forever! Let’s dance and sing everyone!”

As soon as Jesus said this, everyone in the New Jerusalem began to sing, dance, and shout for joy. And they kept singing, and dancing, and singing, and dancing…they sang and danced so much that it would take many books to talk about how happy they were and how much they sang and danced.”