I Have a Question

Does your view of the afterlife influence the way you live today?

 

There are two eternal destinations, heaven or hell, determined by our response to Jesus Christ. Due to sin, our default state is separation from God and an eternity in hell. Faith in Jesus Christ provides salvation, changing our destiny from hell to heaven.

Knowing this as a follower of Christ, how do you look at eternity? Once you’ve achieved this eternal goal does that mean you can coast into the afterlife with no worries? Should you ever just coast, or should you hone your relationship with your Lord?

It’s not just a matter of what has been done for you, it’s about what value you now place on your life. Do you appreciate your life more now that you know you have been forgiven?  Do you feel compelled to serve Christ knowing that His actions have saved you from a disastrous outcome? Shouldn’t you? 

Do you go about seeking to plant seeds of faith wherever and whenever the opportunity arises? Do you ask God to present those opportunities to you? Why not? You shouldn’t say you can’t be bothered because as the great English poet and cleric John Donne (1572–1631) stated in his Meditation XVII, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...”. ^[1] We’re all connected if for no other reason than we are all creations of Almighty God. Do you have love for your fellow man... even the unlovely ones? We are called to love others as Christ loves us and died in our place. What good is it to only love those who love you back?

            Our salvation should revolutionize our lives. We should rise up each new day knowing that God has allowed you to continue to exist. That may sound odd but is it not true. Is not the Lord God the One who declares who lives and who dies and how many years they shall exist on this earth? There is a purpose for all things under the heavens and God controls it all.

            So I ask again, does your view of the afterlife influence the way you live today? It ought to for without the guidance, love, mercy, and grace of our Creator God, we would have no purpose to exist. Our purpose has been laid out for us in scripture. This is our calling, found in Micah 6:8 (NLT), “No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] “No man is an island...” originates from Meditation XVII of his prose work Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, published in 1624.