Titus 1:2

We inevitably spend much of our life focused on the here and now. We need to eat, drink, work and sleep, and often there isn’t much time to do anything else. But we all need to find time to stand back from all this busyness and look at our lives on a bigger scale.

I’ve just been watching a rugby match. It was full of interesting incidents but, in order to understand what was going on and the significance of it, one needs to reflect on the game as a whole. And so it is, too, with our lives. We need to stand back and view our present experiences as part of the great canvas of eternity.

Rick Warren, the American author and founder of Saddleback Church, has written about the importance of looking at life from an eternal perspective. In The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan) he wrote: “When you live in light of eternity, your values change. You use your time and money more wisely. You place a higher premium on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth or achievements or even fun. Your priorities are reordered. Keeping up with trends, fashions, and popular values just doesn’t matter as much anymore.”

Having an eternal perspective also gives us a great confidence as we look to the future. Everything in this world is so temporary. Possessions, fame - and even our human relationships - come and go. None of them are built for eternity, apart from our relationship with God. That doesn’t mean our present experiences are trivial and unimportant. Far from it, but they need to be enjoyed and understood from an eternal perspective. When we look at life that way, it actually gives greater significance and importance to our everyday experiences.

QUESTION
In what ways do you find it helpful to look at life from the perspective of eternity?

PRAYER
Lord God, I thank you that my future is in your eternal hands. Amen

Released on 7 Jul 2023