Eternity in Our Hearts...

“He has put eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

This phrase from Ecclesiastes 3:11 has long been one of my favorites. At the risk of pulling it out of context, may I say that it evokes a longing in my own heart, a homesickness of sorts that causes me to yearn for eternity? And isn’t that the purpose of God’s Word—and even of life on earth?
God has placed a longing for eternity in the hearts of all men everywhere. Regardless of culture or geography or generation, each of us is born with a sense that there is so much more than these few temporal years we spend inhabiting this planet. Throughout the ages humanity has dreamed up all sorts of scenarios for what that eternal state of being might entail and how to assure that we will end up there when we’ve breathed our last as physical beings. But God is too loving and faithful and compassionate to leave us here without instruction on how to achieve that universal goal. He not only gave us written instructions in the Bible, but He also sent the Living Word—His only Son, Jesus Christ—to show us the way.
And so He did. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). An exclusive statement if ever there was one! The same God who birthed a longing for eternity in the hearts of all men came to earth and showed us the ONLY way to achieve it. “Unless one is born again,” Jesus explained, “he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Apart from being born spiritually, which is possible only through receiving Jesus as personal Savior, we cannot even SEE the Kingdom of God, let alone enter into it.
We can choose to waste our entire earthly life trying to outrun, circumvent, or otherwise deny that exclusive truth spoken by the Son of God, or we can accept and rest in it, knowing we are headed home, moving toward that eternal Kingdom where Christ is the Light and the Father sits on the throne, waiting to welcome us into His arms. I’ve chosen the latter; how about you?

Pressing into the New Year...and Eternity!

One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).

“The upward call of God…” What better time to reflect on that upward call than on the final day of the calendar year? And yet, how easy it is to get sidetracked from that upward call by focusing instead on “those things which are behind”!
I have a tendency to judge myself harshly, to expect more from myself than I am able to deliver. And I have a terrible time forgiving myself for past sins and failures.
How can God use me to bless others when I’m guilty of…?
How dare I call myself a Christian after I…?
How can I even consider going out to minister to others after what I did when…?
Did you find yourself filling in the blanks? We all do it, don’t we? And what more effective way can we employ to render ourselves impotent to the Kingdom of God than to beat ourselves up for the past? If we want to ensure that 2010 is a personal failure, all we have to do is hang on to the failures of 2009 and before. But if we are determined to heed the admonition of the Scriptures to reach “forward to those things which are ahead,” knowing that ultimately they are good things because God has promised they will be so, then we must forget “those things which are behind” and PRESS toward the goal, which is responding to the “upward call of God.”
Allow yourself to reflect and rejoice on the blessings of the past, but leave the sins and heartaches with the One who has already paid the price for them. There is a great prize ahead of us, just waiting for us to press in and receive it. Don’t miss it, beloved! It is God’s good and perfect gift to us in the New Year…and throughout eternity.

A Win-Win Situation...

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21).

I said goodbye to Brian yesterday, even though I’d never had the opportunity to say hello to him. But that’s all right because Brian was a Christian and so am I, so I know I’ll have the chance to greet him one day soon.
Brian was thirty-three years old, the same age as Jesus when He died on the cross. Brian was raised in the Christian faith but, like many young people, walked away for a while. A few years ago, however, God gave Brian a “divine appointment” via a Christian hairdresser who led him back into the fold. As a result, Brian’s memorial service was the celebration of a young man whose heart belonged to the Lord and who had gone on ahead of us to be with Him—one more treasure in heaven, awaiting our arrival.
As a friend and colleague of Brian’s mother, Yvonne, I attended the service for her precious son, as did several other writer/speaker friends, to support our dear sister in her loss. And though saying a temporary goodbye to her beloved only child was undoubtedly one of the most difficult ordeals Yvonne has ever or will ever endure, she did so with such grace and faith, to the point of delivering a powerful eulogy to Brian, which she ended by lifting her hand to point heavenward as she declared the truth of Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Then she added, “Brian has gained.”
How true that is! Though we grieve the loss of loved ones, we don’t as believers grieve as those who have no hope, for we know that we will again see those who have died in the faith, even as we continue to live in it. That’s why, though I never had the privilege of meeting Brian on this earth, I know I will one day say “hello” to him in heaven, for we share the same faith, the same Father, the same Savior. And in truth, there is no other.
For just as surely as those of us who have received Jesus Christ as Savior are assured an eternal home in the presence of God the Father, those who have rejected Christ are assured eternal separation from Him—unless they repent before they breathe their last. If you are living for Christ, then you’re in a win-win situation: serving Him here, or “graduating” to heaven to be with Him forever. But if you are not serving/loving Him here, you’re in a lose-lose situation, and only humbling your heart before Him and receiving His forgiveness can ever make the difference.
Don’t wait, beloved. Brian was only thirty-three years old when God called him home. We are not promised tomorrow—only today, which the Bible says “is the day of salvation.” Make it right in your own heart/life, and then commit yourself to praying for others who need to do the same.