And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)
THE PROBLEM WITH LIFE is that we only measure by the number of years we live here on earth. The average life span in the United States is seventy-nine years. How we invest our time, money, and talents all center on life expectancy. However, we sell ourselves short, because life doesn’t end when we expire here on earth.
If you were to suspend a cable from one end of time to the other, it would stretch to infinity and beyond. Suppose you could take hold of that cable and mark it with a pen. That etching would represent your life here on earth as it compares to life eternal. James would say it this way: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
We are limited in this world. Our physical bodies can only go so far. Things of this world will fade away, but those who believe overcome the world and receive life eternal. That is the perspective we need to take when determining how to live and what decisions to make. The choices we make have eternal consequences because “God has given us eternal life.” Thank God for His Son, who died that we might live with Him forever.
Seek God’s wisdom in the decisions you are making today—they have eternal consequence.
Scott Simmons is the author of iFollow: Connecting Belief and Behavior to Who You Are in Christ (WPH) and the youth ministry movement director for The Wesleyan Church.
