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How
to Live Your Life with Heaven in Mind
Our perspective on the
future impacts our decisions in the present
by Ed Stetzer
At some
point in life, each of us has to learn the necessity of taking the long
view.
Deferred
gratification causes us to live differently.
For
example, we continue our education now so that we’ll have more opportunities
after we graduate.
We save
today so we can have financial security later in life.
We
exercise now so that we might be healthier as we age.
Our
perspective on the future impacts our decisions in the present.
This is
a truth taught throughout the Bible. Paul, drawing from his experience as a
tentmaker, gives a fascinating picture of this:
“We know that if our temporary, earthly dwelling is destroyed,
we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with
hands”. 2 Corinthians 5:1
Our physical lives are fleeting.
Paul
reminds us of a reality we must acknowledge: Our physical lives are fleeting.
To have
the proper perspective, he says we should focus instead on what
comes next, the eternal dwelling that is the future.
From
Paul’s perspective, when we consider the long view, our future state actually
undergirds our current faith.
By
contrast, the spirit of this age encourages you to take the short view.
Recently,
global headlines were consumed with Ashley Madison, a website for people
seeking to cheat on their spouse.
A hack
exposed the names of 30 million plus account holders, which were eventually
made public.
But the tagline of the website is worth our consideration at
this point. They told visitors, “Life is short; have an affair.”
But
that’s the exact opposite of the perspective we see in the Scriptures.
Instead,
the Bible says that life is eternal; therefore, live your brief time on this
earth in light of the eternal realities. It’s about taking the long view.
No
matter what culture — or even some in the church — says, the Christian life is
fundamentally not about our best life now.
To
follow Jesus faithfully is, in part, an acknowledgment that our best life comes
later and our lives right now should reflect this reality.
To do
that requires four shifts in the way we view life.
1. Live with an eternal perspective.
This idea saturates Scripture. The biblical emphasis on keeping
eternity in our view reminds us of the brevity of our existence.
The Bible compares life to a vapor that is here today and gone
tomorrow. Having this fixed in our mind points us to a reality that goes far
beyond the years we may have on this earth.
Recognizing this truth, it would be foolish to obsess over such
a small portion of our existence.
Wisdom would have us remain focused on what happens after this
life is over.
2. Live in a contrast between now and not yet.
Paul says we “groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we
are” (2 Corinthians 5:4).
We groan because we are in this imperfect, broken,
struggling reality, but we look forward to the time when
that reality is replaced with something better, something greater.
We know this to be true because of our own experiences and the
experiences of those around us.
We groan when we hear of the hurt of our friends and family.
We groan in our own bodies because of the physical challenges we
have. We all groan sometimes, but this groan is for heaven, for an eternal and
better place.
As we groan, we should remind ourselves and others these groans
are temporary. They are momentary echoes of a future truth.
Our best life is yet to come.
3. Engage the confident
hope that permeates our lives.
In 2 Corinthians 5:7, Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by
sight.”
Paul’s point is that currently we live our lives based on faith,
but one day that will no longer be the case.
Then we’ll walk by sight because we can actually see the
fulfillment of God’s promises to us.
But for today, in a life characterized by our stumbling attempts
at walking without sight, we rest our hope in our currently unseen Savior.
It is hope now because it is faith in what is to come.
One day that hope will be realized into full sight, but for
today a confident hope should
shape you.
We can see an example of what this looked like in Scripture.
In describing great faith leaders in Hebrews 11:38, the writer
says, “The world was not worthy of them.”
But, it’s important to note that the world was not worthy of
them because they were not focused on this world. Their confident hope focused
them on what is to come.
4. Embrace a proper understanding of our reality.
In 2 Corinthians 5:9, Paul writes, “Whether we are at home or
away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.”
Herein is the truth that we cannot miss. Paul says we make it
our aim to please God, both now when we are in our physical bodies and later
when we see rightly and live for eternity.
For Paul, the promise of the resurrection leads to a current
life shaped around resurrection values.
We want to please Jesus in our brief time here so that we might
worship Jesus for an eternal time there.
The hope of personal presence later leads to the desire of
personal actions now.
In the end, the focus is not necessarily on heaven, but on life
now lived in light of heaven.
This is
not my best life now.
There
are good moments for which we should praise God, but we know there are
challenges, difficulties, struggles, physical ailments, hurt and pain.
The
world is indeed broken.
But the
good news is Jesus will make all
things right, including you and me.
For
those who follow Christ, we will be in right, perfect-sighted relationship with
Him for eternity, and that should cause us to live differently now.
It
should cause us to take the long view.
Article courtesy of Mature Living magazine.
Ed
Stetzer
holds the Billy Graham Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton
College and serves as executive director of the Billy Graham Center for
Evangelism. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches, trained pastors
and church planters on six continents, holds two masters degrees and two
doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Previously, he served
as executive director of LifeWay Research.
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