Perhaps it’s the bad aftertaste of the cheaper Merlot or the knot in our stomach after an investment plummets that reinforces our need to get it right. We try to learn from our mistakes, yet we are always aware of the potential danger lying behind each and every decision we make. Our decisions, however, are heavily influenced by all the external stimuli we sense in any given moment.
We believe we are in charge, yet we continually pay heed to the squeaky wheel, or what screams the loudest. It’s as it we’re at a press gathering with reporters bouncing on their toes flailing arms and barking questions; all vying for our attention. Right up front and foremost are the ever beckoning physical demands welling up and percolating to a crescendo: hunger pangs, a piercing headache or addiction cravings. Then there is the incessant nagging of our duties bullying us with guilt and anxiety: the report that was due yesterday, meetings to attend, birthdays to remember, bills to be paid and milk to buy on the way home. The urgent is ever drowning out the important. Indeed, it’s difficult to hear the whispers of the important amid the tumult of the urgent.
Yes, our “now” needs are always at the forefront, yet close behind are all the other attention seekers exuding from our family, finances, employer, status, appearance and emotions, and through all the flash and clangour, we make our decisions as to where to best focus our attention, energies and resources. The self-help sections of our bookstores and libraries are most copious in our scouring for the right advice in our decision making. Indeed, we’ve learned the harsh lessons of making wrong choices; for in whichever moment we’re in, our decisions will affect us and others right up to our final gasp.
It’s here I’d like us to pause – the final gasp. Could there be a more paramount moment? It’s here we’ll know if we’ve really used our time wisely and have made the right decisions. One of the saddest scenes I can think of is described in a John Grisham novel, The Testament. It’s the story of old man at the end of his life. He has become exceedingly wealthy. But now he is lying in his sick bed. He has been married more than once, has numerous children and grandchildren, but none of them loves him. They hover about like vultures waiting for him to die. I imagine him thinking to himself, ‘What have I done with my life?’ If he could do it all over again, what would he change?
I love the scene in The Lord of the Rings where Gandolf the Grey boards a boat going over to the other shore, and we know it’s the transition from this world to the next. What we’re not shown however is the other side. In reality, I don’t believe we’ll be boarding a boat. Many however believe we will be transitioning to a different reality. Of course, if you are absolutely certain nothing follows this critical point on your timeline, then you can stop reading here. But, if dissolution of self may not be your terminus, then perhaps we should consider more.
If you could peer at your timeline, like God does, really, would this lifetime be that significant in the grand scheme? Or could decisions we make here and now affect your eternal outcome? Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love illustrates this using a hundred foot rope which stretched from the back of the church to the podium where he held one end. He indicated that the one inch of red tape which wrapped the end he was holding represented our life on earth, while the rest of the rope represented our eternity.
I believe this presents a different perspective in delineating the urgent and the important. Indeed, it unveils the anterior questions: “what is it all about?” “why do I exist?” and “what is my purpose in life?” It’s easy to see how difficult it is in choosing the right task and method without knowing the real objective. Yet we do all the time. We make choices based on what we believe to be most important while blurring the line between the urgent and the important.
In light of our eternal destiny, the need to work extra overtime to pay for our latest gadgets or cosmetics wane to insignificance next to eternal expediences. Yes, I believe there are decisions we make now that will affect us after we die. First and foremost on our concise list is choosing the immaterial over the material; a higher power over ourselves – choosing God over everything else. Yes, this is at the top of the list and most have already made this choice. From the most recent data collection completed in 2005, from Cambridge University and reported in wiki.answers.com, over 80% of the world believes in a higher power. The number is even higher of those who believe in an afterlife.
It’s not a complicated decision. It doesn’t cost anything now – and yet it will cost you everything. But keep in mind, believing in God and an immaterial afterlife is not a ticket to heaven. Even Satan believes in God. In the gospel of John we read, “…all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them. All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan—but from the will of God. (Jn 1:12-13)
So, it’s a matter of accepting Him. Believing in Him, but not just as the big guy up there, but as the one who once came to offer Himself as a final payment for our sin. I remember hearing a story of a boy in North Korea who accidentally broke a window in his school. Unfortunately, the principal of the school instituted a law that if one damages school property, they must pay ten times its cost or be beaten to death. The boy came from a poor family. There wasn’t even enough to put food on their plate, let alone pay such an exorbitant fine. Although it was the principal himself who made this law, he took pity on the boy and made the payment in full. I believe this is what Jesus did for us. The payment, however, was not ten times the cost of a window, but our life. And the only one who could make this payment for us was God Himself. He paid for our sin with His own life, in the person of Jesus, the incarnate God. He then rose from the dead on the third day of His crucifixion putting an end to eternal death and hell to all who accept His free gift of grace. You see, a gift is not a gift until it is received. Will you now make this decision to receive His free gift of life?
If you are now ready to accept Him as full payment for your sin, your past mistakes will be forever forgiven. Pray with me now, as we talk with our Father.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I’ve made many mistakes in my life. I can never pay for all my sin and ask you now to forgive me of my sin and wash me so I’ll be whiter than the snow. I believe in You Jesus and accept you into my life. I will now follow You as you lead me in this life and through to eternity. Thank you Father for your awesome gift of grace.
Finding True Christianity 