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| | "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men..."
Ecclesiastes 3.11
Eternity. Can you see it? Do you have a glimpse of it?
God tells us He has put the concept in our hearts, but in
such a way that we cannot understand it! We cannot
fathom it. It's a mystery that's just at the tip of our tongue...
just beyond our grasp...something we by instinct reach
for, but can't quite hold on to.
Eternity is amazing! It's especially amazing considering
the fact that most of us go day to day seeing only what's
in front of our face! We live as if this world is the only
reality. "What can I eat, what can I wear, what can I buy,
what can I do... down here...right NOW!"
Don't you get tired of it? All this grasping for what the world
is offering? Big promises that never quite deliver, or at
least not for very long. The new gets old so fast! And on
it goes. Satan is hard at work to keep you stuck on this
hamster wheel! The last thing He wants you to notice is
eternity. Maybe a new car. Some new clothes? A better
job.
Anything but eternity.
How about a new movie every weekend? And DVD's for
weekdays! Get lost in sports. Go online. Entertain yourself
to death.
Anything but eternity.
Be honest, how much do you think about eternity?
And yet, that's where you'll spend your forever.
Again, the devil took Him, (Jesus), to a very high mountain
and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their
splendor. "All this I will give you,' he said, "If you will bow
down and worship me." Matthew 4.9 Satan is offering you
the world in all it's different forms. He loves for you to love it!
Get your eyes on it, get your arms wrapped around it, get
your heart longing and desiring it! Just don't think about
eternity.
"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship
with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses
to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
James 4.4
Why is Satan trying so hard to keep you from thinking
about eternity? Why is he pushing the world in your face?
Remember, "God set eternity in our hearts..." So the devil
has a real problem! He has to find ways to keep squashing
those thoughts that pop up! We all think about eternity...
even with all this stuff the world offers. It happens without us
even trying! You know there's something more, something
greater, something bigger and beyond yourself. You look
up at the night sky, the vastness of the universe, not being
able to take in even that. Still you know that there is something beyond even that; beyond material things.
The thought of eternity does have a way of popping up. And sometimes we can't ignore it. When My mom died, I couldn't
ignore it. Time stopped, life stopped, and I couldn't help but
think of it. I stood at her grave looking up to heaven. All of a
sudden all the shiny stuff satan offers me didn't look so great anymore. It didn't really matter. I thought of heaven and what
it must be like. What was Mom doing up there? I wanted to
know! There she was in the presence of His glory! The
power, the majesty, the glory of God who created it all, and
who is Himself everlasting. Mom had entered eternity!
Satan just hates it when we think of eternity! Satan is
using our preoccupation with the world to keep us
from looking up to God!
Maybe we won't notice Him! Maybe we won't think about
the realties of heaven and hell. Maybe we'll just get so
caught up with this life that we'll forget that a future judgment
is coming. People are dying everyday who have barely
thought about eternity. Do you know where you'll be spending
it?
Don't ever forget this fact: Eternity is real. It's not a concept.
You will be spending it in heaven or hell, with the devil or with
God. There is nothing more black and white than this. It is
reality at it's core. There is a great unseen battle taking place
over your soul. It is being waged even as you read this.
Do you really think that this world is all there is? Satan is
doing everything in his power to make you believe this world
is all there is. You live, you die, you're buried and that's the
end of it. He is also very hard at work to make you believe
that he doesn't even exist. "Hey, forget about heaven and
hell, the devil, and all that stuff!" If he can't make you forget
about that, he would like to at least distract you from really
thinking about eternity. Even more, he would like to keep you
so busy and distracted that you never do anything about it...
just let it slide until you die and come face to face with God.
The devil knows that there is a judgment to come. He will
be thrown into the lake of fire and wants to take as many of
you with him as he can. Furthermore, he knows that there
is a way out of eternal judgment for you. And he is doing
everything he can to see that you never hear about it.
This world is being offered to you as a great distraction
by Satan. One great Christian writer from the past compared
it to a carnival. All kinds of things blaring for our attention...
lights and sounds and cheap excitement. This big distraction
is not an accident, it is meant to keep you from thinking about
eternity.
"For in the days before the flood, people were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah
entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would
happen until the flood came and took them all away... "
Matthew 24.38
Most of the people in Noah's day were just too busy with this
world to think about eternity! They did the usual things, eating
and drinking, getting married...you know, the common things
of life. They knew nothing about what was to happen until it
was too late and the flood brought them face to face with
eternity.
I see it on the news all the time... Famous singers, great actors, important people of the world with high power jobs...maybe in
their 20's and as late as their 90's who have died. And I ask
myself, "Did it really matter that she just sold a million CD's?
Did it really matter that he had tons of movies to his credit?
They had to come face to face with God. They entered
eternity with none of it. The world may still applaud their talent
and laugh at their jokes... So what! I want to know where they
will spend eternity! Don't you think that's all that matters to
them now? Do you think they care about any of the CD's
they sold or movies they made? No, they have entered
eternity and will spend it in heaven or in hell, with God or with
the devil. And like all of us, that choice is made before death,
not after.
Death seals the choice you make here on earth.
You may say, " I never made a choice!" Then you need to understand that your sin has done it for you!
"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6.23
Please read carefully this passage from God's Word :
"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated
on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was
no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small,
standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The
dead were judged according to what they had done as
recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that
were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that
were in them, and each person was judged according to
what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life,
he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15
You can see that the only escape from the lake of fire is
that your name is written in the book of life. Now consider
these two passages:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life;
he who does not have the Son does not have life."
1 John 5:12
God intends to make it as plain as possible, and you have
read it for yourself. There is nothing more serious than
where you will spend eternity. Please think about what
you have just read. If you would like to end up in heaven,
I would encourage you to give your life to Jesus now.
"I tell you now is the time of God's favor, now is the day
of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2
Where you will spend eternity is an issue that is way too
important to put off. Please think about praying to Him now.
Satan is busy distracting you. He makes the world look
so good! But what will you do when the end comes?
What does it profit a man if he gains the whole
world, yet loses his soul? Matthew 16.26
If you would like, you can go to the following link which
will help you in praying. You can have the gift of eternal
life right now! |
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