Is This All There Is?

Hundreds of men are hoarse from continual speaking, and are wearied out with running here and running there. If things slow down, we evolve yet another type of meeting. And when this new and added wheel is spinning merrily with all the other wheels, there may be no spiritual outcome whatsoever, but there is a wind blowing in our faces; and we hot and sticky engineers have a comfortable feeling that something is going on.  A.J. Gossip

The supreme test of service is this: For whom am I doing this? Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition.  A.T. Pierson

Afflictions are light when compared with what we really deserve. They are light when compared with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. But perhaps their real lightness is best seen by comparing them with the weight of glory which is awaiting us.  A.W. Pink

Do you ever think about your life on earth?  Are you satisfied with this life?  I asked myself this question.  Is this all there is? 

I get up every weekday and get dressed, feed my dog, watch the news, grab my bag, run out the door, drive to work, run around doing things all day at my job, jump in my car, drive by the store, pick up something for dinner, drive home, do a load of laundry and then go to bed only to get up the next morning and do the same thing all over again five days in a row. 

About now you are saying she leads an extremely boring life. Back to my previous question, “Is this all there is?”  I don’t believe this is all there is to life.  If I think that what I have today is all there is to life, then most likely I don’t know God the way I should.  If what I have on this earth today is all there is, then it’s really not worth the effort I put into it. 

Let me explain.  If I believe that all I will ever have in this life is what I can obtain on this earth, then what do I have to look forward to.  Too many times I think we observe life from and earthly standpoint and that is the reason we pursue this life with everything we have in us.  Have you figured out yet that God wants more for each of us?  Because He loves us, He wants to give us happiness and joy, but He also has prepared a place for us where none of the pain and suffering we go through in this life will ever touch us again. 

If I know there is a place that has been prepared for me that will far exceed what I could ever dream of, then why do I continue to pursue the things I can get here that have no value.  When I die I am not going to take a thing from this world with me. I always find the pyramids interesting.  They buried King Tut in a tomb with all of his belongings.  What for?  There were even cases where servants were sacrificed along with the king so that he would have someone to wait on him in the afterlife.  If all the stuff that was buried with King Tut was in use by him in some other life, why was it on display in museums around the world?

If I look at this life from a heavenly perspective, the main thing I should be focused on is getting as many people as I can to go with me.  Isn’t that what each of us should be striving for in this life? We will have everything we could possibly need in heaven.  We won’t need baggage, our purse, credit cards or money.  Are you ready?  This life isn’t all there is so we can stop striving for what we can get here and look forward to what we will have there.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I know this is not all there is to life and I know too many times I spend way too much energy and time trying to accomplish pointless things here in this life.  My main concern should be showing others You.  If I am too focused on the things here, I will miss the opportunities to show others the life You have prepared for us for eternity.  I need Your help to give up my selfish wants in this life.  Thank You for having patience with me and for loving me.  

       

Scripture: Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

The Lamp of the Body

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

You Cannot Serve God and Riches

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Do Not Worry

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  Matthew 6:19-34