I'm going to be very honest here: I don't think about heaven that much. I don't dwell on eternal life that much. I don't spend much time pondering the temporary nature of life on earth. My friend Don Gentry does, and he has encouraged me to consider the life to come more than I do. So I've been trying. It's not that I don't ever think about heaven, it's just that it's not often a source of motivation for me. Maybe it should be. Is it for you? In what way? I'd be interested to read your answer, to learn from you.
This was a thought-provoking paragraph for me:
In order to keep us from becoming too attached to earth, God allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and dissatisfaction in life - longings that will never be fulfilled on this side of eternity. We're not completely happy here because we're not supposed to be! Earth is not our final home; we were created for something much better.
And this one:
The Bible says, "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." It is a fatal mistake to assume that God's goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry.
When we think of the ancient story of Adam and Eve, they were given work to do in the Garden of Eden. It may have been a beautiful and verdant region, but there were still plenty of assignments for each day. We live many years removed from that story, yet it is still the same earth - just with a lot more gashes and bruises. There is still plenty of work to do, and God is still handing out assignments to those that are willing. The temporary nature of the assignments are due to the life-span of you and me. Our work, upon our death, will be picked up by someone else. But what kind of work will we have done with the few years we have here on earth?
What about you? What convicted you or inspired you in the reading today?
No comments:
Post a Comment