A Reflection On Eternal Perspective

When I need to invest in what lasts forever

Human nature wants it all. We want to live forever in God’s Presence, but we’re reluctant to sacrifice anything in the meantime. We want heaven on earth as well as heaven in heaven. The fact that this is a spiritual impossibility doesn’t faze us. We want it anyway.

Jesus doesn’t offer His disciples an impossibility. He speaks in harsh realities. We must make a choice: invest ourselves in this life—which is passing and subject to decay—or invest in the Kingdom of God—which is eternal. There is no “all of the above” in Jesus’ gospel presentation. It’s either one or the other.

Can you honestly say that you care nothing for your life in this world? Or at least that your here-and-now plans pale in comparison to your hope in eternal life? If not, Jesus calls you to radically change your perspective. You cannot hang on to your visible life and your eternal life at the same time. One must be forsaken. Which will it be?

Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.

John 12:25