Eternal Life

When you think of “eternal life”, what comes to your mind? Are you thinking of a place where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, and no more fear? Are you thinking of a place filled with angels and other majestic beings that are difficult to imagine? Does your mind show you our God in all his majesty with Jesus sitting at his right hand? What do you think of? Though these things may ring true in eternity, Jesus tells us in John chapter 17 verse 3 what we should focus on when we think of eternity in heaven. He says:

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

I believe that heaven is more than just a place, it is more than what we’ll see, it’s more than what we’ll have and more than what we’ll no longer have to deal with. It is a relationship with God that we’ve never experienced this side of heaven. Jesus says that eternal life is that we may know God and that we may know Jesus. Though we may think we know God now, our understanding of him is like looking through a dark, dirty window. We have an idea of who he is, but there is only so much we can know of, and about, him while we live here on earth. I don’t know about you, but I look forward to being closer to God than I’ve ever been, knowing him in a way that I’ve never known, and worshipping him in ways that I can’t even imagine. That is the heaven I’m looking forward to, and that is the heaven I believe Jesus is describing in John 17.

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The Bible only gives us hints of what we can look forward to when we die. We have an idea of what both believers will experience and what unbelievers will experience, but as Jesus explains, for those who will have their names written in the book of life, our eternity will mean to “know” him. I don’t think we can truly understand what an amazing reward that will be. I would guess that all other things, or experiences, we will have in heaven will pale in comparison to knowing God. In fact, I’m sure that none of it will matter aside from knowing him. So I would challenge you, if your thoughts on eternal life differ from the one Jesus laid out, I hope you will realign your thinking to what truly matters both in this life and certainly in our eternal life, which is knowing him.

Flee Evil Desires

It is incredible how powerful the desires of the flesh are. Much like the things we can become addicted to, when we fall in a certain area of sin, we are more prone to fall again in that same area than someone who has never tasted that particular sin. Because once our flesh has tasted sin, it can be ever more enticing and addicting. But the more we flee those evil desires, the easier it should get over time to resist it. Paul tells Timothy in second Timothy 2:22: 

“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

God wants our heart to be pure. He wants us to pursue righteousness. I’ve even heard it said that “God does not merely call us to pursue righteousness, but to prefer it.” For most of us, to prefer righteousness, faith, love and peace, like it says in this verse, requires a change of heart. It requires a change in mindset, and it requires the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as the truth sets us free; the truth that righteousness is better than sin. Paul tells Timothy to flee evil desires and to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. And as an extension, I believe that God is telling us to do that as well.

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Paul alludes to the idea that those who call on the Lord with a pure heart are also the ones who pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. These are attributes that every believer wants to reflect. Step one is to flee the evil desires of our youth, as Paul puts it. To prefer righteousness means that we want to be righteous over indulging in sin; that we enjoy being right before God over satisfying our fleshly desires. Let us heed Paul’s instruction. Let us flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Search Me

When it comes to your heart; when it comes to your walk with Christ, how honest are you about how you are doing? Are you acutely aware of your walk, or do you just assume your heart is right before him? If our relationship with Jesus is an active one, we should be confident about our answer to these questions. But whether we have a consistent walk, or whether we meet with God only occasionally, we should often open our hearts to God and ask him to search us to reveal the truth about our hearts. Psalm, chapter 139 verses 23 and 24 reveals this prayer:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

At times we need to pause, take a step back, and ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and reveal what is truly there. In this Psalm, David asks God to search his heart, to see if there is any offensive or wicked way in him. I believe that he asks this because sometimes we can fool ourselves, or convince ourselves that things are fine even if they aren’t. At times we cannot adequately evaluate our walk because sins like pride and haughtiness, among other sins, are difficult to identify or admit to. That is why we need to humble ourselves before the Lord and allow him to search our heart. He will reveal the truth if we ask him. He can correct anything in our hearts that need correcting. And he can lead us in the way everlasting.

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When was the last time you asked the Holy Spirit to search your heart? When was the last time you were willing to evaluate the course you are on? On our own we can’t always get a clear picture of where we are. Though we may try, we might unintentionally deceive ourselves. For me, it’s kind of like when I write a book, or work on a video project. I can be so close to the material that it is difficult to identify any flaws or mistakes, which is why it is wise to let someone who isn’t so close to it help me see any flaws. Likewise, the Holy Spirit can search our hearts and identify any hidden flaws or sins that we can’t see ourselves. I encourage you to ask the Spirit to search your heart. Ask him to see if there is any offensive or wicked way in you so that he may lead you in the way everlasting.

A Shadow

We serve an eternal God. And eternity is a difficult concept for humans to grasp. Each of our lives has a beginning, a middle and an end. We are born, we live and we die. But eternity has no beginning and it has no end. Besides this, as believers, when we consider our life, we also realize that this is his world, and we’re just passing through. This is not our eternal home, heaven is. Even though we get to stay here for about 80 or 90 years if we’re lucky, in reality, we’re strangers here. Our existence is but a shadow. In first Chronicles, king David explains it this way in a prayer to God. In chapter 29, verse 15 he says: 

“We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”

I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel pretty insignificant. But even if our lives are short, God’s favor rests on us. It rests on us because we are his creation; a creation made in his image. He loves us with a jealous love and lavishes his grace and mercy upon us. So, yes, our lives are short. David compares a human life to a shadow. But God is a gracious God. And while we remain in him, our lives have eternal significance. I hope that encourages you today. And I hope that when you reflect on how short our lives are, you stop to consider how you are living it. Do not spend your days here on earth without purpose. I encourage you to seek out a kingdom purpose. I encourage you to live for Christ.

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In a prayer to God, David says; “We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.” But in fact, we do have hope. Our hope is in Christ; the one who died so that we might live. And as you live, I encourage you to consider how you are living. Do you have a kingdom purpose? Are any of your actions kingdom focused? Or are you just living this life with no consideration for what is to come in your eternal life. I encourage you to really consider how you are spending your life on earth. Because the Bible encourage us to be kingdom minded. It encourages us to store up treasures in heaven. And David reminds us that this isn’t even our home.

Our Conduct

Have you ever known someone who calls themselves a Christian, but their actions would seem to prove otherwise? They want to be known as pure and right, but don’t seem to conduct themselves in a way that the Bible would affirm as “pure and right”. The Bible tells us that we will know the heart of a person by their fruit, not necessarily by their words. Proverbs 20 verse 11 puts it this way: 

“Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.”

If you claim to be a Christian; if you claim to be a follower of Christ, then your actions should reflect that claim. Are your motives pure? Are your actions pure? Would your friends be surprised to hear your claim of being a Christian? Yes, we are human and subject to fall through sin on occasion, but where is our heart? If we are only pretending, or flat out falsely claiming that we are believers, then our actions will prove us a liar. And over time, our words will also. Because the Bible reminds us that “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of”. So whatever your true motives, whatever your true intentions, your heart will reveal who you really are - certainly to God, but also to man. So I encourage you to be true to your claim of being a believer, because Proverbs reminds us that even a child is known by his actions.

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We need to be true to our testimony, or our claim that we are believers in Christ. Yes we are subject to sin, but our heart and our intentions should be towards purity and righteousness in Christ. To say that we follow him, but live in a way that is unbecoming a believer only proves us false and can be a stumbling block to those who God is calling to himself. So I encourage you to take seriously your conduct before God and also before men. Because who you truly are will be revealed whether you want it to or not.