Wednesday, April 24, 2013

An Eternal Lifetime

        What must I do to prepare for eternity?
This question has been on my mind a lot the last few weeks. We are eternal beings; our lives have a beginning, but no end. Whether you want to or not, you will live forever. We can’t even begin to wrap our minds around what that really means. When I try, I find myself filled with fear and awe. Forever is a long time.
You’ve probably heard someone say that our lives on earth are “just the beginning” of real life; and despite how cliché that may sound, it’s so true. Compared to eternity, our lives on earth are miniscule – and yet, what we do in that short time determines our eternal destiny.
We can live for God or we can live for Satan; purely good, or purely evil. You can’t serve two masters – especially ones that are polar opposites. You can strive for a righteous life devoted to God, or you can succumb to the temptations of the world and live in sin.
Last year I posted on a writers forum, encouraging people to not waste their lives, as it would count for eternity. The majority of the people who replied were not Christians, and I got a variety of responses. As I read through all their comments, I became sad. I was grieved for these people who were so lost in darkness.
I’ll share a few of their comments with you.

        As teens and atheists, we are going to choose how to spend our lives based on our own needs and wants. 
       Personally I'm going to eat as much delicious food as I can, have as much sex as I can with as many beautiful wonderful people as I can, express my affections freely, and drink myself silly and wondrous on a routine basis. Oh, also love and cherish my family, work hard to achieve my academic goals, volunteer to better the world, and fight for human rights through feminism. 
       Because that's the way I roll.


       The fact that we're derived of stardust, and we will go on to nourish life on a smaller scale with our own dust, is one of the most beautiful aspects of reality.


        With this short time, I am going to spend as much of it as I can experiencing the world. I want to have as many different experiences as I can. I want to meet as many people as I can. I want to eat as many different foods as I can. I want to see as many places, and do as many things, as this single, short life of mine allows. In short, it is because I am convinced that this is my only life, that I am determined to truly live.
        If I were to die tomorrow, and was a given a choice: eternal paradise or annihilation, I would turn heaven down. Eternity? Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather live once, a brief flash, than let it get dull. Because no matter what, forever would get boring after the first couple of eons. Best not to bother, if you ask me.


         In my opinion, life only has meaning if it's finite, and not wasting it means making sure you spend your finite number of moments in the best way possible (which for some of them can still very well be "chilling on the couch having a Firefly marathon).

        Wow. If that’s what they call living, then what’s the point?
         Life means something. Our creation was not an accident; we don’t come from star dust, or monkeys, or anything else. We come from the hand of God, and that fact alone gives us enormous value.
The first thing we must do to prepare for eternity is make a choice – the choice to give your life to God, or to believe Satan’s lies and follow him to destruction. After that, the rest is pretty straightforward.
If you love God, then obey His commandments. Live like Jesus lived. Love, give, serve, bless, encourage, witness, admonish, exhort, and pray for others. Deny the desires of your flesh; follow the Spirit’s call. Live with selflessness, love, and passion. It won’t be easy, but in the end, it will be so worth it. This life really is a preparation for the next. If we persevere to the end, then God will reward us far beyond anything that we can possibly imagine.
If you choose to deny God and live for yourself, then make the most of it. Do anything and everything that you think will bring you pleasure. Because in the end, your life will mean nothing.

~Riah

2 comments:

  1. I actually rather like the stardust comment, though I'm probably reading it in a different light than it was intended. It makes me think of Ash Wednesday -- "Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return."

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  2. Riah,
    Thanks for your encouragement to live with eternity in mind. Unless God reveals our need for Him, and we chose to obey Him, there is nothing but here and now, which is what you are reading in the comments you received. How thankful I am that you are following after truth and godliness, and motivating others as well. You inspire me.

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