What are we doing with our lives? Are we so attached to our luxuries and our physical interests that we don’t have time for God? Are we living for our own pleasures or do we realize that the best is yet to come?
The apostle Paul wrote about this struggle between the physical and the spiritual, but his emphasis was on the spiritual. For many of us, this might be difficult to comprehend because we are so attached to what is going on with the here and now. Paul’s goal, was to be ready for eternity.
Our bodies are just vessels that our souls inhabit, attached to a shell that we will one day leave. One day our bodies will be destroyed and when that happens, God will have a house for us and it will either be in heaven or hell. The choice is ours.
We know our life and our body won’t last forever, but, too often we live as if this is all there is. However, this isn’t all there is to life.
We should be looking forward to a better body and home. A body that isn’t subject to aches and pains that many live with each day. God is going to provide a body and a home that will last forever. No more burdens, no more tears, no more death. For many, it may seem to be a utopian dream, but this isn’t talking about life as we know it on earth. But real life, eternal life. This is not only what God wants for us, but this is what God has made for us.
God has given us a guarantee – His Spirit. When we are united with Jesus. Galatians 3:26-27 says,
“For you are all (children) sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as we baptize into Christ have put on Christ.”
We not only receive forgiveness but we also receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.
“Repent, and be immersed, every one of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit -Acts 2:38
Even though we have been baptized and have the Holy Spirit in us, do we have recognition of this? Or do we ignore how God wants us to live and resist the Holy Spirit’s influence in our lives?
While we live in this body, we should always strive to have courage and live by what we believe, not by what we see. Our only goal should be to please God whether we live here or in heaven, because we all stand before Jesus and will be judged. Each of us will receive what we get good or bad for the things we do in our earthly lives (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).
What do we base our lives on? Is it just what we can see around us? Or do we have hope and our lives fixed on Jesus, on what we believe? Do we really want to leave this life so we can spend life in eternity -in heaven? Or do we even have a goal beyond existing day to day?
I believe Paul’s emphasis is that we live not for now but for Jesus. We live with the realization that we will have to answer for how we live our lives here. We will receive eternity based on what we did during our lives on earth, whether good or bad.
Psalm 19:14 encourages us to live each day in a way that pleases God.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock my Redeemer.”
Our goal in life should be simple to please God. Could you imagine how different it would be if people who say they follow God lived this way?
This isn’t always easy because it goes against the current of what most people around us are doing.
May we have the courage to live for Jesus so that we can eternally be at home with Him.
From Pity to Praise 