For momentary, light affliction…

2 Corinthians 4:17 (portion)

What awaits us in a moment from now is more important than what we see right now.  What we prize of this Earth will in a passing breath be far away, far, far out of reach.  Just down the road, in an instant, we will face a judgement, a reckoning of every of deed ever done.

In just a few glimpses, perhaps, as God reckons time, your life will be gone.  And only a few things of your previous existence will then matter.  Faith, Hope, and Love will remain, but that which does not last the fire will be forever consumed.

When we look at this Earth, and the things that involve our lives, do our eyes fall on that which lies in just a moment?  Do we see that in a moment, the road we are driving on will be the road we cannot see?  Do we realize that when this breath is over, when this short glance is passed, we have an Eternity awaiting us?

As we look at our breakfast on the table, do we realize that Eternity is crashing in on us?  We could die today, we could die tomorrow.  We may have 10 years, but we may not, only God knows.

There will come a day, very shortly, that that will test every man’s work.  The only thing we will most likely see on that day is this.

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Revelation 1:12-18

Our God is a consuming fire.  Only that which endures Him matters.  His ways are just, perfect, holy.

This life, as real it seems to us,  is passing.

The whole goal of God’s faith is to see something a little bit further away, something just out of sight.

Though the natural man may only ever see this life, the inner man of the Spirit in capable of seeing Eternity.  It is capable of understanding the heavens.  It is capable of a supernatural way of life and love that transcends what is visible.

By faith, at least in increasing measures, we can begin to perceive the things of God.  As God showed Moses the history of the world to write the first five books of the Bible, He is capable of doing the same for us.  Though not for the purposes of writing scripture, if it is His will, He can show us the past or the future, for it is known to Him.

Some people knew what this life was for.  The woman with the alabaster box broke it at His feet.  The thief on the cross figured it out at the last moment and was saved from eternal damnation.  The apostles discovered it eventually, and every one of them was recorded as a martyr in church history, except one, who simply wouldn’t die.

If you don’t live for the Kingdom, for souls, for the church, for His Spirit, for His Righteousness, you are nothing when it comes to Eternity.  You may be saved yourself, as Paul writes, but with no reward.

But, as the passing sun, as the setting of the day, the light is fading, the fallenness of this world is ending.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

Jesus explains,

He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.  If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

John 12:25-26

This world is passing away.  It is a shadow, and a fading dream.  And, over that horizon is either Heaven or Hell.