Learning To Think Eternally

Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.

Proverbs 16:3

In his book Maximum Achievement, corporate trainer Brian Tracy writes, “Virtually everything you do is the result of habit. The way you talk, the way you work, drive, think, interact with others, spend money and deal with the important people in your life are all largely habitual.” But then he says, “The good news is that all habits are learned, and they can therefore be unlearned.”^a

It’s easy to see the habits in our lives. Every day we brush our teeth, dress ourselves, and drive to work the same way. Those habits may or may not need changing. But here’s one habit we should definitely unlearn: our tendency to consider the temporal implications of life’s choices and events before we consider the eternal. The apostle Paul learned to emphasize the eternal after meeting Christ. He said that his only goal was to know “Christ Jesus [his] Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

What do you think of first when making decisions or reacting to life—the here and now or the life to come? Start a new habit today: think first of the eternal difference your choices and reactions will make.

Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.

E. H. CHAPIN