How to Live with Eternity in Mind
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“Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God’” (Luke 12:16-21).
If Jesus told it to us today, this parable might go something like this…
Recently there was a certain businessman, a real wheeler dealer. Everything he set his mind to do, he accomplished with great success. If he purchased stock, he bought low and within a short time, sold high. If he built a high-rise, there’d be a boom in new businesses needing office space. If he dug an oil well, there would be a revolution somewhere in the Middle East and the price of oil would skyrocket. In fact, the man was so wealthy, he made Bill Gates look middle-class.
In the midst of his success, he had an epiphany. “I’ve worked hard and become the richest guy in the world. Why am still I killing myself? I can buy anything, go anywhere and do anything I want. Nothing and no one can stop me. What the hey – I’m going to live it up! And he went to bed laughing and dreaming about the life he was going to enjoy from then on.
And later that night, he died in his sleep. The End.
Jesus was telling his disciples a parable that actually sounds a lot like the stereotypical American dream (add in the gorgeous spouse, 2.3 kids, family dog, weekends playing golf, and bam, you got it – the American dream). Well, except for the unexpected death part. Nobody dreams of that.
But Jesus knew it was also the Israelites’ dream. All the Old Testament heroes and Bible greats were rich!
These included Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, King David, and of course, King Solomon – the richest man ever.
Wealthy individuals were influential, powerful and cultural heroes of the Israelites. They loved the rich guys and wanted to be like the rich guys.
As far as His listeners were concerned, this parable began about an honest farmer climbing the ladder of success right to the top, just like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David and Solomon. He was a hero, yet God called him a fool, and not because he was rich, proud or even selfish. The man was a fool because he lived his life as if this temporary existence was all there is. Jesus indicated that the man never considered or prepared for eternity. It’s not a lecture on being rich, but rather it’s a reminder to be ready!
In the same manner, we could all be fools. Regardless of our economic class, our race or our political opinions, unless we get ready, we will be ill-prepared to meet the God of eternity.
Have an Eternal Perspective
As the saying goes – there are no U-hauls behind hearses. We will all face eternity someday and leave behind all the material possessions we invested our life energy into. The only things that go with us are our good works done for the Kingdom, and the spiritual fruit of our Christlike character. These are the kinds of things we receive eternal rewards for (but they are not the means to salvation).
That means we should all live our lives with an eternal perspective in all we do. But what does that look like on a daily basis?
Realize Life Is Short
“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
We humans are funny when it comes to our ages. Kids can’t wait to grow up. They proudly count months in addition to years on their fingers. Teenagers can’t wait to hit the big benchmarks that allow them greater freedoms: driving, working, living independently, voting. Middle-age slows it down and we begin to fudge on our ages, remaining 29 years old several years in a row, hiding the signs of aging with hair dye, young fashions and gym memberships. Eventually, it becomes bad form to even ask how old someone is, so we avoid the subject in polite company. But eventually, a person may get to be so old we can ask again, and it becomes a cause of surprise and celebration that they are still with us!
But no matter how many years we each experience here on this earth, it’s simply a vapor compared to timeless eternity. In that light, as Jesus was saying, it’s foolish to place greater emphasis on our well-being today than our well-being in eternity. When we truly understand how short our days are, we will live our lives with a greater view to how our actions affect others, and how it furthers or hinders God’s plan and purpose here on earth.
Prioritize What Matters Most
Remember Jesus called the guy a fool not because he was financially well off, but because God was not in the equation. The man was simply playing Monopoly with his life; he thought he was winning when he was actually losing. So what does it mean to live our lives in such a way that we are “rich” toward God? One meaning would be to live in a way that pleases Him, by loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).
Another meaning would be that we live with purpose – following the will of God for your individual life. When we commit to doing God’s will in our lives, we move from playing Monopoly to actively preparing for eternity.
But being rich toward God also means prioritizing people. If we truly want to be ready for eternity, we should do everything in our power to make other people the central focus of our lives. After all, people are the most important thing to God! People are the reason for both creation and the cross. If you love God, you will love His people, from every nation, tribe and tongue (Revelation 7:9-10)! So if we are going to be rich toward God and be ready for eternity, our lives need to be people focused.
Love Openly, Reconcile Quickly, Forgive Freely
Tell people that you care, tell them how valuable they are, tell them you love and appreciate them. Tell them you miss them. Slow down and make time for them in your schedule. Playing Monopoly and acquiring stuff is not nearly as important as making sure people know how valuable they are, both to you and to God.
When Lisa and I first got married, I took very seriously the concept that I was spiritually responsible for the relationship. I made up my mind that no matter what disagreement we might have, I would be the one to initiate reconciliation. Right or wrong, I determined that to keep the peace, I would always be the first to say “I’m sorry.”
This worked well for about six months. If we had an argument, I would end it by saying, “I’m sorry,” and we’d move along. But gradually I started to think, sheesh, why can’t she admit she’s wrong some of the time?
Eventually we had a truly big disagreement, and in my mind, she was 1,000% wrong. After all those times I said I was sorry, I decided it was her turn. But I forgot, one of my wife’s weaknesses was being stubborn.
Sure enough, we had a standoff. I wasn’t going to apologize. She wasn’t going to apologize. And we didn’t talk to each other for three days. Finally, I, the spiritual professional, had to get before God with my complaint. “God, about this woman You gave me...”
This woman is not going to say she’s sorry! Evidently, one of her weaknesses is that she’s a downright stubborn-as-a-mule woman. But…sigh… I realize You have given me the spiritual responsibility in this union, and I guess I’m just going to have to swallow my pride and say ‘I’m sorry’ anyway.
So I finally felt better, apologized, and we reconciled. (I’m happy to say that she’s not nearly as stubborn as she used to be!)
Reconciling conflict quickly, and deferring to others regardless of our pride or self-interest, is one of the godliest virtues we can demonstrate. It is also a means of being rich toward God. Just look at the example of Christ given to us.
“…that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
Jesus came to us. He was the one who initiated the process of reconciliation, and so should we. Saying “I’m sorry” healed the conflict in my marriage and strengthened my life around the people who mattered most to me: my wife and kids. Reconcile quickly, don’t wait!
“Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8).
I don’t know if there is anything that we have received more freely from God than forgiveness. God didn’t make us jump through hoops or do penance to receive His forgiveness. All we need to do is ask for it and we receive it freely, and consequently we ought to forgive others freely!
More Than a Body
I remember the day of my grandmother’s funeral. My family gathered on the city street outside the funeral home to say goodbye to the one we all loved so dearly. The last time I had seen her she was still vibrant, even though she was in a hospital bed. When I walked into the funeral home, that’s what I expected to see.
But when I walked over to the casket, it became painfully obvious that even though her body was there, she wasn’t there. I saw something that looked like Grandma, but it wasn’t her. Where did Grandma go?
We have a part of us that is eternal, that goes on living after our physical body gives out.
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands…” (2 Corinthians 5:4).
We are not our bodies. And if we are going to be ready to meet our maker, we must realize that our soul needs to be right with God. And our soul gets right with God when our soul meets the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Living for Him, the master and not playing Monopoly needs to be the aspiration and inspiration of our lives because that is evidence that He is the Lord of our lives and the Savior of our souls.
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Philippians 3:7-9).
In life we can have it all and be a billionaire like the man in Jesus’ parable. But when our souls leave this life, there is really only one thing that ultimately matters: are we ready to meet our Maker?
Photo credit: George Desipris/Pexels
