Life is precious, not only because of its brevity, but because of its eternity.
This thought came to me over the last several months as I attended four different funerals, and contrasted the hope we have in Christ with the hope of worldly wisemen.
What does the fool say in the Bible?
Isaiah 22:13 and 1 Corinthians 15:32 "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"
In modern paraphrase, the atheist will say something to the effect: 'We enjoy life more, because we have a sense of urgency. When we're gone, that's it. So we live for the here and now.'
To be honest, this reveals a heart that is desperately wicked, accountable to no one, and fatally short-sighted, respectively. We all have elements of this to contend with, nominally atheist or not.
This way of thinking treats life like Black Friday at Walmart. It lays rather bare the self-centered, materialistic, greedy underbelly of the worldly mind.
That is what is so often being marketed to us under the guise of, "Oh, life is precious because life is short."
There is legitimate value ascribed to something which is rare. And in the ages of eternity, this span that we call time is a rare gem indeed.
But it is a rare gem which ought to be exercised in sobriety, not frivolity. It is fraught with value, not vanity.
We have responsibility. We have choice.
And the way the devil sells it, when he acknowledges that we have choice, he says, "Choose frivolity, vanity, worthless things, for tomorrow we die."
The Devil is the driving force behind the fool recorded in that Scripture passage. He knows that his time is short,† and so he sells it with all the desperate charisma he can muster.
Time is precious because it is within the span of time that people are saved. There is nothing of greater importance or value. Our lives are precious because the time is short to prepare us for eternity. There is eternal consequence.
Life is precious, not just because it is short, but because it is eternal.
Eternal Consequence
"When we're gone, that's it?"
Now it would be a cruel joke...it would be unkind of the Almighty to describe eternal torment as being eternal life, and so He does not do so. But He does describe man's state as eternal, and we may choose between life and death—not between temporal ecstasy and nihilism.
This is the reality. On one hand, at God's right hand, there are "pleasures forevermore." But on the other hand, "there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."†
Time is not valuable because of what we can get away with. Time is valuable because of the great escape that may yet be made for another soul from Satan's clutches.
But in Practice
Oh, how slow the wheels turn when we try to do something of value, of consequence, for the good of ourselves and others. When we work for the glory of God Who created us, how slow the wheels turn.
And how swiftly the wheels are encouraged to turn when we would spend our lives foolishly. "Limited time offer. Tomorrow we die. Come, enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season!"†
NO! We ought not to wastefully enjoy our lives, expecting no eternity.
The joy of the Lord is our strength.† It ought to please us to please Him; that ought to be our pleasure. Not "lovers of pleasure," temporary pleasure, but "lovers of God," eternal.† Don't let earthly pleasures prevent heavenly treasures.
God's Good Will
We ought to seek first to do His goodwill, His good pleasure, which is gracious.
2 Peter 3:9 KJV The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
God is not willing that any should perish, and He gives mercy to the repentant. As we are given that grace, so we may extend it to others as well, and to point them to the God Who loves them.
And His love is an eternal love, meaning, it is not looking for mere present pleasure, but pleasures forevermore.† These pleasures may be enjoyed by those who join with their Creator rather than with the corrupter and destroyer.
Blinded by Self and Satan
God is not selfish. God is good and He desires to share His goodness, to extend His grace toward us and towards others.
And if we are not agents of that. What are we doing?
If we are not extending grace, if we are not sharing the message of God's divine redemption plan, have we become selfish? Has our vision become blurred, and do we blur the vision of others?
Have we become blinded? Are our minds clouded by the god of this world?†
Satan would have us do works that are great and marvelous monuments to something other than God, other than toward eternal benefit.
If we have become convinced that we ought to expend and expand merely for the temporary, because that is where we see the value to be, that is too often why we say, "Oh, life is precious because it is short."
We are blinded by the things of this world.
1 John 2:16 KJV For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
This short life is precious, not because of those worldly distractions, but in spite of those things.
Luke 9:23-25 KJV 23 And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
Life is precious because people have a limited-time opportunity to choose to turn to God.
But Satan would distract us from that choice to turn to God. And to even deny that we have a choice to turn to God.
Satan may say, "Oh, you're not good enough." Well, that's the point.
Dead in trespasses and sins,† BUT alive through Jesus Christ our Lord,† bought by the blood of Christ.†
Satan wants to keep salvation out of it. He wants us to keep his defeat out of it. He does not want us to choose God's Way.
Conclusion
Life is too short to make the wrong choice. Eternity is too long to make the wrong choice. Time is too short to point people in the wrong direction.
To be self-centered > is to be Earth-centered > is to be centered upon that which will be destroyed, if it is not found in Him.†
Blessed are those who are found in Christ Jesus when time ends and eternity begins. Amen.
~ Eric Druist
Extra
Homework Assignment
Take a second look at the lies Satan tells us regarding bad choices.
Compare them with the lies he tells us regarding good choices.
Then see what you can dig up regarding God's answers.
This may well be a future blog post. 🍎
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