Why Should Eternity Be Important to Us?

I remember my introduction to Twitter a few years ago. I attended a missions conference in Austin, and the facilitator announced that we could make comments on Twitter during the conference by using a special hashtag. Full disclosure—I had no idea what he was talking about. I had heard of Twitter, but I wondered how anyone could communicate a complete thought in only 144 characters. I curiously watched as they scrolled the “tweets” on the big screen during the main sessions. I quickly surmised that I could not in any way read the comments and listen to the speakers on the stage.

Twitter accurately represents how we get caught up in the noise of the moment and lose grasp of the eternal. We seem afraid to look away from what scrolls across our screens as if we will miss out on something. The irony of this is…

We are missing out on the reality of eternity.

Here is what I mean by that statement:

• We don’t practice or even see the need for delayed gratification. This is a tangible, practical result of little or no grasp on the eternity. Where a couple of generations ago, a person naturally delayed the acquisition of something needed or wanted; however, now we expect, and often get it almost immediately.
• We don’t know history. Ours or anyone else’s. Eternity isn’t just what is coming in the future. It includes our past. Our history contains both good and bad moments all woven into our tapestry. One thing I appreciate about the Bible is how God shows how He uses our past as a part of our future destiny.
• We think that life is all about us. I know that this is predominantly a western thought process, but with the way cultures cross-pollinate now, the collective mindset to the eastern way of life is losing its distinction. When our focus is on ourselves, we get caught up in what happens to us, right here, right now. Our social media and reality TV culture creates an unhealthy self-consumed mindset. We don’t consider the way our decisions and actions can and do impact eternity.

We lose sight of the fact that we are here on this earth for a relatively short period of time. Of course many throughout history adhered to the philosophy that the time we live on this planet is all there is to life. If that is your philosophy then the way things are fit you perfectly. I, on the other hand, at least intellectually, think that my life here on earth is only a minuscule snapshot of all eternity.

Why should we care about the eternal?

When I used to train teams to go on short-term mission trips I always reminded them that the time they were in country was just a moment time. God has been at work in that place long before the team even existed, literally. He will be working while they are there, and He will continue to work after they leave. Our challenge is that we tend to pay attention to only the time we are there.

What is important for us to understand and intentionally apply is:

• God is eternal. He has a plan not only for this temporal world, but also for all of eternity.
• God’s ways are different than our ways. This truth implores us to spend more time getting to know God, so we can understand His ways and recognize how He is working in the world.
• Our lives have significance when we join in on what God is doing. The irony is that we all want for our lives to matter. That fact drives our need for attention. But the world’s voices of telling us what matters is a cheap counterfeit to what matters to God. When we align our pursuits to God’s purpose, especially with how He wants to use our lives, that is when we find significance and fulfillment.

How can we resist the noise of this world?

When we spend more time scrolling through social media, reading the latest news cycle, and watching the current reality TV celebrity it makes sense that is what captures our attention. We buy into what the world says is important.

The simple answer is we need to spend more time with the Creator. How we spend time with God can and does look different. The key is Doing It, because the more we spend time with Him, the better we are able to hear and recognize His voice. When we can do that, then we know our purpose. When we know our purpose, then we can live a life of significance. When we live a life of purpose, we can and will impact eternity.

That is why eternity should be important to us.