For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (KJV)
John 3:16 could possibly be one of the most well-known Bible verses, but have we stopped to think about what eternal life is, and are we prepared for it? “Eternal” means without end, so that means we will never end; we will go on forever and ever. But where will we go when we leave this earth (something that all of us do sooner or later)? The Word of God gives us only two options: (1) to Heaven to dwell with God for all eternity, or (2) to Hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Any logical person would want to choose Heaven, and yet many live their lives as if they don’t really care.
I think it is safe to say our life here is to be used in large part to prepare for there. We can use our time wisely by putting it into the will of God. We should never behave as if time is a commodity that continues to multiply in our lives. It is, in fact, just the opposite. Every moment we use is one that we never get back again, so using it wisely is important. Many people put off being in right relationship with God until another time. Usually it is because they want to do things they know God wouldn’t approve of, so they think they will choose their own time. But what if they run out of time? It is a sobering question that can provoke us to more intercession for the lost.
We can use our time wisely by putting it into the will of God.
How many truly live for eternity rather than for the moment? Not many, I think. We often live as if there is no tomorrow, and yet tomorrow always comes. My desire in this book is to help you learn to seize each day and use your will to choose God’s will. Use the day to represent God well and to prepare to live in His presence forever.
We often live as if there is no tomorrow, and yet tomorrow always comes.
Our entrance into Heaven is not purchased with our good works, but we do receive or forfeit rewards to be received in Heaven based on our choices and works while we are here. That’s why Jesus said in Revelation 22:12 AMPC:
Behold, I am coming soon, and I shall bring My wages and rewards with Me, to repay and render to each one just what his own actions and his own work merit.
If we take this one scripture seriously and at face value, then we would be foolish if we didn’t live our lives as an investment toward eternity. One good example of doing the right thing to invest in eternity is giving financial help to other people.
None of the material things I purchase here will endure forever. I won’t take any of them with me, but what I do for others will last forever. The apostle Matthew made that clear in Matthew 6:20 (AMPC):
But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal.
It is definitely not wrong, or even a bad choice, to have material things. All things God has created are for our enjoyment, but we should realize the eternal value of them and not see them as more important than they are in light of eternity. How much would our lives change if we made all of our decisions with a view of eternity in mind? A great deal, I would imagine.
Living with the thought of eternity in mind will help us make better choices about what we do with our time. Everything we do can have spiritual value if we do it all for the glory of God. However, not everything we do can be spiritual. We must attend to many ordinary daily tasks that can often seem quite mundane. Use your time for whatever you need to use it for, but don’t waste it! Time is valuable, and we would be wise to treat it as if it is.
I am a stranger and a temporary resident on the earth…
Psalm 119:19 AMPC
A friend of mine used to sing in our conferences, and one of his songs that excited the crowd more than any other was about how this is not our home—we are just passing through. We all want and need to know that there is something better waiting for us. It gives us the faith to endure the difficulties we may experience while on the earth.
In Russell Crowe’s 2000 blockbuster movie, Gladiator, his character, General Maximus Meridius, rouses his troops by reminding them, “What we do in life echoes in eternity.” This type of thinking encourages us to do the right thing while we are on earth, even if it means we must give up this life in order to do so. The soldiers were willing to die for what was right and trust that their reward would be in eternity. What we do in this life has eternal implications and significance!
What we do in this life has eternal implications and significance!
It is easy to get so caught up in the realities of daily living that we forget the most important reality of all: this world is not our home. I Peter 2:11 (AMPC) states that we are “aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world].” Though we have temporary earthly citizenship, our true home is in Heaven above where Jesus has prepared a place for us (see John 14:2).
I have noticed that the early believers had a strong faith that Jesus was coming soon, and that was one of the reasons they wanted to make sure their time was used for what was truly important and had lasting value. The reminder that Jesus was coming soon also helped them make good choices regarding their behavior. For example, Paul instructed the people to live unselfishly, reminding them that the Lord was coming soon:
Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon].
Philippians 4:5 (AMPC)
I think we all know that if we believed Jesus would return one week from today, we would make lots of changes in our lives. Why not live as if He might come then, because no man knows the day or the hour? (See Matthew 24:36.)
We need not ever fear or be concerned about the Lord’s return if we are prepared for it. People are very interested in when Jesus will return and what we can expect to take place as time here on earth comes to an end. Jesus talked about signs of the end of the age and His second coming, and He tells us to be ready. I am often asked what I think about end times, to which I reply, “I don’t know exactly when Jesus will return, but I think we should all live as if He is coming back very soon.”
Our present life is not the final chapter; it is merely the opening one. We are simply preparing for the wonderful life to come. Enjoy this life on earth, but be sure you are ready for the next one, which is eternal. Some people like to believe that they will be reincarnated and come back as something else or someone else for another life, and that the process continues until they are perfected. To me, this is a convenient choice of belief that allows a person not to be too concerned about how he lives now. It is also not supported in Scripture at all, but was actually refuted when Paul wrote to the Hebrews that it is appointed once for man to die and then he faces judgment (see Hebrews 9:27).
Our present life is not the final chapter; it is merely the opening one.
If man is a true believer in Jesus, he won’t face judgment concerning his salvation, but he will face judgment regarding his works or the lack thereof (see I Corinthians 3:11–15). The works we did with pure motives will endure, and the ones we did for any other reason will be burned up. In other words, if they have eternal value, they will go with us and we will be rewarded, but if not, we lose the reward, although we still go to Heaven. Knowing these things gives me a greater desire than ever to make every day count!
I don’t want to just go to Heaven; I want my full reward to be waiting for me, and since that is the case, I must be careful how I live now. I love what Paul wrote to the Ephesians when he said:
Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people).
Ephesians 5:15 (AMPC)
Are you living carefully? Am I living carefully? It is a good question to ask ourselves and then take the time to give an honest answer. What kind of attitudes and character traits are we clinging to that God doesn’t approve of? How much of our time are we wasting living selfishly instead of loving and serving others and trusting God to take care of us?
In his book Making Today Count for Eternity,4 author Kent Crockett asks the reader to imagine a World War II soldier, wounded while selflessly rescuing his fellow servicemen. When he returned to the States, he was given the Medal of Honor for his patriotic service. What was it that motivated him to put his life in jeopardy? When his life was at stake in battle, he wasn’t thinking, I’m going to risk my life so I can receive a shiny medal. The reward was simply the nation’s way of showing appreciation for his heroic actions. He risked his life to rescue his friends and defend his country’s freedom.
In much the same way, we don’t serve God for a reward. We serve Him because we love Him and we love those around us. The apostle Paul said, “It is our constant ambition to be pleasing to Him” (II Corinthians 5:9). Rewards simply show us that God is pleased with our lives and that He appreciates anyone who makes the choice to do what is right.
When talking about seizing the day and living life “on purpose,” it is important to live with an eternal mind-set. If our actions, our attitudes, and our ambitions are carried out with an eternal mind-set rather than a temporal one, we are certain to accomplish bigger and better things for God and the growth of His Kingdom. When we speak of God’s Kingdom growing, we are referring to souls being added to it. The salvation of the lost is the important thing on God’s agenda, and we have the privilege of being his personal representatives on the earth—God making His appeal to the lost through us (see II Corinthians 5:20).
A humorous anecdote is told of a man who was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.
The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.
As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station, where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk, where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do? bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license-plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.”
I hope this cute story helps you and me to see that although we may say that we believe in Jesus, and that we are Christians, the people around us see only our actions. Our Christian beliefs must be lived out in our daily life in front of people and at home behind closed doors in order for them to be effective in building God’s Kingdom.
Though we are here only for a short time, James 4:14 (AMPC) calls our lives on earth a “wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air].” Our lives on earth, although short, do have eternal significance for us and for all those we come in contact with. C. S. Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
I have experienced a certain level of dissatisfaction no matter what I have here on earth. I was disturbed by my seeming lack of ability ever to be one hundred percent satisfied when I was led, I believe by the Holy Spirit, to the following scripture:
He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy].
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (AMPC)
This says it all! God has planted a sense of eternity and a desire to live in His presence in our hearts, and nothing but God Himself can ever satisfy that desire. Earth is not our home, and although we can and should enjoy our time here, it is not our final destination.
If we could be fully satisfied with life here on earth, we might not seek God as we should, and I believe that is why God has planted eternity in our hearts. We have a feeling that surely there is more to life than what we experience on a daily basis. People who do not have a relationship with God often ask, “Is this all there is?” Thankfully, those who do know God believe that there is more—yes, much more! We are excited about it and are happy to spend our time preparing for and waiting for it. This knowledge gives us a sense of purpose, but people who have no relationship with God through Jesus Christ often express that they feel empty, useless, and as if life has no real meaning.
God gives life meaning! He is everything that is important, and I am excited about spending my time preparing to see Him face-to-face and to live in His presence for all of eternity. The pursuit of God and His will is truly the most noble journey that any of us can undertake.
• When talking about seizing the day and living life “on purpose,” it is important to live with an eternal mind-set.
• It is easy to get so caught up in the realities of daily living that we forget the most important reality of all: this world is not our home.
• Our entrance into Heaven is not purchased with our good works, but we do receive eternal rewards based on our choices while we are on earth.
• Our lives on earth, although short, do have eternal significance for us and for all those we come in contact with.
• God has placed a sense of eternity in our hearts. Life is not just about the time we have here—it is about preparation for eternity in Heaven.