20th May 2006

From Here to Eternity
By John Fischer

Where can a dead man go?
The question with an answer only dead men know.
But I'm going to bet they never really feel at home.
If they spent a lifetime learning how to live in Rome.
- Nickel Creek (popular Blue Grass group)

Christians spend a lifetime learning how to live somewhere else. It's true. We may not always be conscious of it, but our destination is somewhere else. We were made for eternity. We were made to dwell with God, making this life but a shadow of the one to come.

At the same time, we don't just unplug here and sit around waiting for the Holy Helicopter to take us there. God has uniquely connected this life to that one. Our lives here, and in eternity, are related. What we do here matters there.

Jesus once said that those who are faithful in a few things here will be put in charge of many things there (Matthew 25:23). Paul said that when we pass from here to there, some things will stay with us -- those things that were done here by faith -- and the rest will burn up (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Paul also said that our bodies go into the ground as a seed here and spring up new there (1 Corinthians 15:37). The key is to learn what translates from here to eternity and concentrate on those things. What's important both here and there?
Be careful. This is not as easy as it might seem at first. That's because most of what we do here is tangled up in eternity and hard to unravel. For instance: Money won't matter there, but what we do with it here will. Job position won't matter there, but being responsible here will. Material possessions won't matter there, but what we do with them here will. Winning won't matter there, but playing hard and working at the top of our abilities while we are here will. Like a gold thread running through it, we will pull eternity out of our present experiences.

Not to leave out the stark contrasts. If you lived in prison here, you will live free there. If you were sick here, you will be well there. If you were abused here, you will be cherished there. If you were deformed here, you will be whole there. If you were poor here, you will be rich there. If you were outcast here, you will belong there. If you were nobody here, you will be somebody there. If you mourned here, you will dance there. If you struggled with depression here, there, you will leap for joy.

Remember, we spend a lifetime learning to live somewhere else.