DAY FOUR: Made to Last Forever

"This life isn't all there is.  Life on earth is just a dress rehearsal for the real production.  You will spend far more time on the other side of death - in eternity - than you will here."  (Warren)

So often I live life for the here and now.  I let the busyness, the pressures, the worries choke out what is truly important in life.  So often the temporal things demand attention, shifting my focus from eternity.   What I say (or what I don't say) and what I do (or what I don't do) matters in this life...it carries over into eternity with me.  What a fool I have been, living as if all that mattered were the immediate without considering the eternal.  It is not like I didn't know this.  I've just been out of tune lately and let the cares of this world choke out the reality of eternity.

Reality isn't just our life on earth.  Reality is eternity.  We'll be spending a lot more time on the other side of death than we will in life on this earth.  So why is it that I forget that important fact and cave into the pressures and desires of this world?  It's because I'm human, capable of bad judgement, making mistakes, and being just plain out demanding.  I am capable of sin.

But that isn't how God originally created us to be.  We were created in His image...meant to last for eternity!  Where we spend eternity is up to us...for those of us who love and place their trust in Jesus Christ,  we will spend eternity with Him.  Those who reject salvation through Jesus Christ will spend eternity apart from God...in a place of eternal condemnation. 

I was reminded in today's devotion that if God didn't exist, if this life was all there was, then there would be no purpose, no meaning to life.  There would in essence be no right or wrong, no good or bad.  We could do what we wanted, when we wanted and not suffer any eternal reprocussions.  However, death is not our final termination.  There is life after death.  And we are held responsible for our words and deeds in the hereafter. 

I've realized that lately, I've just been winging it through life - you know - shooting from the hip.  Sure, I've been responsible and done the best I could to be a good person.  However, God expects more from us than that.  We must live our lives on purpose - for His purpose.  In 1 Corinthians 9:26, Paul writes, " So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing."  In other words, we aren't to wonder through this life aimlessly.  We are to have purpose in every step we take.  Superior athletes take their training and practices seriously.  This life is our training ground for eternity.  It's not enough to sit back and watch from the stands.  It's not enough to jog around the track a time or two.  We are IN the race  so we must train diligently and finish strong. 

I must remember that there is more to life than just the here and now.

Verse:  "This world is fading away along with everything it craves.  But if you do the will of God you will live forever." 1 John 2:17

Question: Since I was made to last forever, what is the one thing that I should start doing (or stop doing) today?    

Grace and peace:)
In His Love, Cathy

(Warren, Rick.  The Purpose Driven Life.  Zondervan.  2002. Print.)