“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?
