Life is Not Short

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Our life in this world is just the beginning of our existence. It is like a grain of sand on the shores of eternity or a drop of water in the ocean of time. It is simply the first page of a very long story. When we are born, the story begins; when we die, the story continues in another realm.

Since eternity will last forever and our time here acts as the foundation of where we will go to spend it, we cannot afford to live recklessly. We must do some maths and get our priorities right so that our time and efforts on earth do not eventually boil down to nothing. There is nothing as sad as coming to the realization that you have wasted valuable time, energy and resources in something that has produced only wind.

When we are young, our parents do not let us just grow up aimlessly without thinking about our future. They take us to school and give us advice so that when we become adults we can live a prosperous and respectable life. When we get employed or start a business, if we are wise, we do not just squander the money haphazardly and leave nothing for the days ahead. We invest what we have so that when a rainy day comes, we will have something to keep us going.

In the same way, our time here on earth is a time to invest in our future. It is the time to use what we have for our eternal good. It is not the time to senselessly dive into all manner of crude, short-lived and unproductive activities that will eventually amount to nothing more than a chasing after the wind. It is the time to plough into everlasting soils that will give us an eternal harvest.

Jesus Christ told His disciples to “Store up for [themselves] treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20). He was telling them to be wise with their time and resources on earth and use them to secure an eternal inheritance for themselves.

Just as there are bank accounts here on earth, so are there spiritual accounts. These accounts are not stocked with physical currency such as bank notes and coins. They are stocked with such characteristics as righteousness, holiness, goodness, humility, self-control, love, joy, peace, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, repentance, and so on (see Galatians 5:22-24 and Matthew 5:3-12 for more).

When all is said and done and our time on earth expires, it is the spiritual aspects of our being and of our actions that will matter. The amount of food we ate will not count. The shape and size of our bodies will not matter. The zeal with which we partied will not help us. What our friends thought of us will not be a concern. The titles that men bestowed upon us will be of no consequence. 

God will judge us based on whether or not we did what He expected of us, if at all we bothered to find out what it was. He will look at what our values, motives and interests were, and whether or not we honored Him in all that we did. He will not consult our friends, family or foes about us, but will bring out the deep secrets of our hearts and minds and reward us accordingly (see Jeremiah 17:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10).

Most importantly, He will look at the divine condition of our souls. Did we repent of our sins and accept the forgiveness that is only obtained through Jesus’ blood? (see Hebrews 9:22). Did we receive the Holy Spirit to make us God’s sons? (see Romans 8:14-17). Did we walk in holiness after receiving His forgiveness and mercy? (see Hebrews 10:26-31).

Jesus told His disciples that “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

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Our souls are the most precious aspect of our being. They are our real selves, the part of us that will remain when our bodies have perished. They will last forever, whether or not we make it to heaven or to hell. They will bear the full impact of our actions here on earth. If we neglect them, we are essentially neglecting ourselves. They should therefore be our first priority when it comes to the choices that we make and the things that we do. Focusing on other things at the expense of our souls is loving those other things more than ourselves and therefore hating ourselves.

We therefore need to be wise and see beyond the momentary passions and lures of this world, because spending one hundred and something years on earth will be of no value if we end up spending the rest of the billions of years of our existence languishing in eternal pain and torment (see Matthew 25:46 and Mark 9:43-44). 

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” – Matthew 13:40-43