Anyone who's ever had a new puppy knows that sound of tiny paw pads following around behind you everywhere you go. You learn to instinctinctively look all around at your feet before taking a step, lest you trample the poor pup underfoot. Little puppies faithfulfully, playfully, and expectantly follow their humans around everywhere they go.

This image of the playful puppy serves as the perfect illustration of the promise of the Psalmist, "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life ..."

Or does it?!

As one Bible student, Elizabeth Petrone Wheeler, has so aptly expressed:

What an inappropriate translation for Psalm 23!  The [Hebrew] word for 'follow' is the same word used [concerning] Pharaoh's actions ... after he had let the Israelites leave.  Did Pharaoh 'follow' them? No, he pursued them; he wanted them back!  The same word is used when Saul was looking for David. Was Saul 'following' David? No, he hunted him down!  This word is used many times when a person or group is chasing after another, even for revenge or destruction, and it is never translated as 'follow' except in Psalm 23. 

Perhaps the translators were trying to soften or cast new light on the meaning of a word so typically used in a negative context. Or perhaps they just don't appreciate the full force of the word. The Hebrew word translated 'follow' here in Psalm 23:6 literally means to persue or chase. See Strong's rendering, 7291.

Tracy Howell of Leonard, Texas, has found a unique way of showing her husband both her love and her fellowship in his daily life. On December 1, 2020 she shared the following in a Facebook post which has since racked up hundreds of thousands of shares:

"Clifford and I have been married almost 41 years and I have made his lunch every working day since day 1. On occasion I would join him on the job site and have lunch with him. He made the comment once that lunch tasted better when you share it with someone you love ❤️. Soon after that, while fixing his sandwich one night, I took a bite out of it before putting it away. When he got home (long before cell phones) he commented that someone took a bite out of his sandwich. I told him that since I couldn’t join him for lunch, I took a bite so he knew I was joining him. I continue to do this frequently (unless it’s tuna or pimento cheese) and he still says, 'saw you joined me for lunch today and it sure was good."

Tracy wanted her husband to know that she isn’t just thinking about him, she’s actually “joining” him in his daily experiences.  She’s “with” him. She’s “taking a bite” out of whatever struggles or hardships he encounters. She’s “sharing a meal” to fellowship with him over his victories and triumphs. In this simple gesture, she is communicating to him that they truly are in this thing together. It's fellowship on the deepest level.

One of the most pervasive misperceptions about Heaven is that it is a purely ethereal, non-physical place—a place where disembodied spirits float around in an immaterial dimension, presumably playing harps! Some don’t even consider it a place at all, but have reduced it to a state of mind!

But this is not the Heaven described in the Bible.

Perhaps the strongest argument for a physical dimension to Heaven is the fact that Jesus is there right now, physically, in His resurrected body. And it’s not just Jesus who took a body with him into Heaven; the Bible tells us that Enoch and Elijah were also transported there in their physical bodies (Hebrews 11:5; 2 Kings 2:11). 

So the Bible makes it clear that there are at least three people presently in Heaven who have a human, physical form. This strongly suggests that there must be a dimension to Heaven that makes accommodation for embodied people—that it’s not just an ethereal, non-physical place.

Adding a bit more food for thought is the fact that the Bible describes the Tree of Life (pun intended), first mentioned as being physically present in the earthly Garden of Eden, as now physically existing and producing fruit in Heaven.

Reason also supports the idea of a physical dimension to Heaven. Consider the following illustration:

Let’s say you’ve been invited to have dinner at the mansion of a friend who happens to be incredibly wealthy, with maids and butlers and cooks available at his beckoned call.

On the night of the engagement, as you’re in route, your car suddenly starts to sputter and then comes to an abrupt halt, stranding you nearly a mile from your destination. So you decide to walk the rest of the way.

With just a couple of blocks to go you hear a loud thunder clap, and the next thing you know you’re overtaken by high winds and driving rain.

As you bolt to get out of the torrential downpour, you stumble and take a hard spill on the sidewalk, badly scraping your knee. Moments later you arrive, soaked through to the bone and bleeding. Your host, happy to see you, quickly ushers you in from the storm.

But then your friend does the most bizarre thing. Actually, it’s what he doesn’t do that’s so surprising. Although he sees your terrible condition, and hears your shoes squishing and squeaking as you pass through the foyer, he makes no effort to respond to your obvious needs. No towel with which to dry off is offered, no clothes to replace the ones that are torn and wet, and no bandage is forthcoming for your injured knee. Instead, he invites you directly to the dining room where you spend the rest of the evening in his lovely home over a sumptuous meal, all the while dripping, shivering, and bleeding.