Possibly because he knows us. He knows how we seek what we believe will make us happy. And if we don't know much about heaven, then we are looking to have our needs met by the things of this life. Even as upside down as it seems, what makes us the most miserable can be satisfying something we desire.
Given our perspective on the world, we aren't trying to change our circumstances, we can't seem to change our behavior, and may, if we could see our motives it's because we like things the way they are.
We may think that we are doing something because it is the right thing to do, but underlying what we may be saying to ourselves and others, there's another motive that is more true to how things really are. The role we are playing in the relationship works for us. Our misery works for us. It feels comfortable. We know it. Doing anything differently conjures up too many fears, feels too risky.
We seek our own interests as we perceive them and fool around with shopping and eating and getting ahead, manipulating our kids and controlling our friends, like ignorant children who want what we want NOW to make us happy for an instant rather than wait for what will truly satisfy. "We want to go on making mud pies in the slums because we cannot imagine what is meant by an offer to go on vacation at the ocean."
Jesus knows we are far too easily pleased. Our desires are not too strong for heaven's reward, but too weak. So he gives us a clearer picture of heaven that we will desire it. Longing for heaven, thinking about our reward there, makes the things of this world grow strangely dim.
Reflection #4 on C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory
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