Eternal Perspective – Notes

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The Long and Short of It

The Bible frequently reminds us that life on earth is brief: “. . . [God] is mindful that we are nothing but dust” (Psalm 103:14). Our earthly bodies are called “tents” (2 Peter 1:13, NIV), temporary dwelling places of our eternal souls. David recognized this and sought to gain God’s perspective on the brevity of life. He asked of the Lord, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.. . . Everyone is but a breath . . . everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be” (Psalm 39:4-6).

Billy Graham observed shortly before his 90^th birthday, “The greatest surprise of my life, is the brevity of life.”

Moses realized that true wisdom requires an awareness and understanding of the brevity of our lives. With that in mind, he asked the Lord to help him number the days he had on earth. “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years . . . for it quickly passes and we disappear.. . . So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:10,12).

I encourage you to actually number the estimated days you have left on earth. If I live as long as my father, I have about 1,900 days left. This has helped me focus on investing my life and resources in eternally important matters. In light of the brevity of life, Matthew Henry said, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.”

Eternity is long.

Eternity, on the other hand, never ends. It is forever. Imagine a cable running through the room where you are now. To your right, the cable runs billions of light years, all the way to the end of the universe; to your left, it runs to the other end of the universe. Now imagine that the cable to your left represents eternity past, and the cable to your right, eternity future. Imagine taking out a marker and making a tiny line on the cable in front of you. That tiny mark represents your brief life on earth.

Most people, however, lacking such an eternal perspective, live their lives as if the mark was everything. They make mark choices, live in mark houses, drive mark cars, wear mark clothes, raise mark children, and dream mark dreams. Devotional writer A. W. Tozer referred to eternity as “the long tomorrow.” This is the backdrop against which all the questions of life and the use of our resources must be answered.

Aliens and Pilgrims

Scripture tells us several things about our identity and role on earth. First, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20), not on earth. Second, “We are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), representing Him on earth. Imagine yourself as an ambassador working in a country that is generally hostile toward your own. Naturally, you will want to learn about this new place, see the sights, and become familiar with the people and culture. But suppose you eventually become so assimilated into this foreign country that you begin to regard it as your true home. Your allegiance wavers, and you gradually compromise your position as an ambassador, becoming increasingly ineffective in representing the best interests of your own country.

We must never become too much at home in this world or we will become ineffective in serving the cause of the kingdom we are here to represent. We are aliens, strangers, and pilgrims on earth. Peter wrote, “. . . Live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear” (1 Peter 1:17, NIV). Another Bible translation uses the words “strangers and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11, KJV).

Pilgrims are unattached. They are travelers — not settlers — aware that the excessive accumulation of things can distract them and bog them down. Material things are valuable to pilgrims, but only as they facilitate their mission. If we aren’t thoughtful and careful, our possessions can begin to entrench us in the present world, acting as chains around our legs that keep us from moving in response to God. When our eyes are too focused on the visible, they will be drawn away from the invisible. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV).

Pilgrims of faith look to the next world. They see their earthly possessions for what they are: useful for kingdom purposes but far too flimsy to bear the weight of trust. Thomas à Kempis, author of The Imitation of Christ, said it this way: “Let temporal things serve your use, but the eternal be the object of your desire.”

Two truths will help us gain a proper perspective of our possessions.

1. We leave it all behind.

After John D. Rockefeller died, it was reported that his accountant was asked how much he left. The accountant’s response was classic, “He left it all.” Job said it this way, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there” (Job 1:21). Paul wrote, “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either” (1 Timothy 6:7).

2. Everything will be destroyed.

Earthly goods are destined to be destroyed or become dust. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives” (2 Peter 3:10-11, NIV). The temporal nature of things should help us handle them with an eternal perspective.

Impacting Eternity Today

Our daily choices determine what will happen in the future. What we do in this life is of eternal importance. We only live on this earth once. “It is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). There is no such thing as reincarnation. Once our life on earth is over, we will never have another chance to move the hand of God through prayer, to share Christ with a friend who doesn’t know the Savior, to give money to further God’s kingdom, or to share with the needy.

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist who made his fortune by inventing dynamite and other powerful explosives, which were bought by governments to produce weapons. When Nobel’s brother died, one newspaper accidentally printed Alfred’s obituary instead. He was described as a man who became rich by enabling people to kill each other on a massive scale. Shaken by this assessment, Nobel resolved to use his fortune to reward accomplishments that benefited humanity, including what we now know as the Nobel Peace Prize.

Let us put ourselves in Nobel’s place. Let us read our own obituary, not as written by uninformed people, but as it would be written from heaven’s point of view. Then let us use the rest of our lives to edit that obituary into what we really want it to be.

I loved playing Little League baseball as a young boy. We played on a huge field with towering fences in the outfield. Years later, shortly after my father died, I spent the day walking around my old hometown, reflecting on his life. When I visited the baseball field, I was shocked. It was so small! I could actually step over the outfield fences. While standing there, a thought struck me: Many of those things that seem so large and important to us today shrink to insignificance in just a few years.

When I am face-to-face with Christ and look back on my life, I want to see that the things in which I invested my time, creativity, influence, and money are big things to Him. I don’t want to squander my life on things that won’t matter throughout eternity.

What are the choices facing you now? How does an eternal perspective influence your decisions? Martin Luther said his calendar consisted of only two days: “today” and “that Day.” May we invest all that we are and have today in light of that day.