A Christmas for Eternity

Mark 4:18-19, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Is your view of eternity a day at a time? Do the struggles you face today form your worldview? Are your prayers reflective of your needs and pain in the moment? I bring this up because of the year we have just gone through. Many of us have had to put our hopes and dreams on hold. Many of the issues in the news, and life, seem ever evolving. Social Media has made us “in-the-moment” people. Some of us get so caught up in the news of the moment that they lose sight of why they are here. We are here to glorify God from generation to generation.

Exodus 3:15, “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”

THE SHORT VIEW

How we fight COVID-19 today is different from what was reported just a few months ago. The news about injustice changes as new information becomes available. Sometimes our worldview is cemented before we get the whole story. We worry about the economy as closures and unemployment rise. Our worldly leaders seem more intent on persuading us toward their agenda than actually solving a problem.

All of this drives us to a short term view of our lives and the world around us. We start to think that whatever happens in the next moment, the next week, the next year, or the next decade will alter our existence forever. We have to react before it is too late.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Fear is the great enemy of faith. Living in fear is looking at circumstances as if God didn’t exist or doesn’t care. Fear is trying to control the uncontrollable. Fear is looking for solutions that are human-made, not faith-based. Fear shrinks our world and makes us ineffective.

Luke 12:20, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Who will benefit from all your worry?

THE ENEMY

Who is your real enemy? It is COVID, injustice, political leadership, or even poverty? Is it your boss or your neighbor or cultural bias? Or, might it be something that uses all of these to keep you from seeing the real enemy? Do not get me wrong, these are real issues that we should not ignore, but they are not the real danger. If non-believers bring about world peace and do away with poverty, hunger, and disease, are you better off? Short-term, yes, you are more comfortable; long-term, not so much.

We get so tied up in every day that we forget we are creations meant for eternity. Our entire life span is but a moment. A single day almost unnoticeable. It is real at the moment but not worthy of concern when thinking of eternity.

A Short term view of our existence is a tool of the enemy to convince us that God does not love us. It is one of the best ways that the enemy whispers in our ear that if God did love us, he would do what we want, God should address our fear with immediate solutions.

1 John 4:18, “We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us.”

THE LONG VIEW

Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone” ― Pablo Picasso

Christ came for the long view. He didn’t come so that the Pharisees would be put in their place or the Romans would be run out of town. He even told His disciples that poverty would always exist in the world. He wasn’t looking to correct the by-products of sin, but to destroy the impact of sin itself.

Matthew 26:11, “The poor you will always have with you”

He died that we might spend eternity with Him. There will be no political parties or disease or hunger or injustice. These are of the world and therefore under His dominion to be eliminated upon His return.

Ephesians 1:22, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.”

I would challenge each of you to divorce yourself from all news and social media for 30 days. I challenge you to only engage in gospel-based learning and information. I think you will find that nothing happened that would not have happened with or without your knowledge. I think you will find your world view has pivoted away from the temporal to the eternal. I think you will find yourself filled with more confidence and hope; concern and fear will decrease. The Bible will guide you in the due diligence required to deal with this world.

 1 John 5:14-15, “And we are sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we really know he is listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that he will answer us.”

COVID can’t stop Him. Whoever is in the White House cannot prevent His will. Nothing in your environment will stand in the way of God’s love for you. Stop fixating on things you cannot control and start fixating on the things you should control. Fixate on God’s providence over all things. God will protect your soul. God will prepare you for eternity with Him.

The greatest thing about you is what God has done for you. Live your life with the joy and peace of knowing that God has dominion over all things. You are safe within His hands.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”