ATLANTA (BP)–God’s nature and heart are in eternity! Isaiah 57:15 states: “For thus saith the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy….” Then the prophet continues to describe the nature and activity of God, especially as it relates to each of us.
God works from eternity, to and towards eternity. Time is only where and when He is now working, but always in the context of eternity. God, therefore, always works with urgency, for He fully knows the reality and certainty of eternity -– endless existence -– with Him or without Him.
We too often live without a sense of eternity and without a sense of urgency or seriousness. We are often too careless or casual in the decisions we make, the relationships we establish, the priorities we live by, and the overall way in which we live. But we are always “one breath away” from eternity. Are we truly ready? Is there a trembling in our living or an urgency in our living?
Our lives were eternally chosen by God (Ephesians 1:4), and His purposes in and through our lives have been eternally purposed, “[T]o the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord …” (Ephesians 3:10-11).
With this in mind, how then should we be living personally, with our family, in our churches, in our workplaces, and in our world? Certainly, with eternity in mind! Jesus reminded us that if we are going to make an investment in our lives we are to do it with eternity in mind: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth … for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21).
The more one reads through the ways of God revealed in the Old Testament, and in the teaching and life of Jesus in the Gospels, and in the entire Bible, the more one is struck by the awareness of eternity. Indeed, we as Christians should ponder some very serious questions. How am I receiving what God is saying? Do I merely have “correct doctrine,” but my life and lifestyle are not being affected at all? These are serious questions to answer if we are to live with a sense of eternal accountability before God, as Paul expressed it in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
These are serious times, and our lives must be lived before God and the world with an obvious awareness of “eternity!”
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For more information about Henry Blackaby’s ministry and travel schedule, visit his website at www.blackaby.org, call (770) 603-2900 or contact Blackaby Ministries International, P.O. Box 16338, Atlanta, Ga. 30321.
