Eternal Perspective
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. -- Colossians 3:2
What if we lived this life as if it were only a very short, but significant, part of our eternal life; if all our thoughts, actions and decisions were based upon the premise that they will carry on into eternity? After all, that is our reality as citizens of heaven, right? A vitally important question to ask yourself is, "if I were to die today, could I say that up to this point I have pursued efforts of worth to the Kingdom of God?"
Back when I was beginning to make some serious decisions about which direction I wanted to take after graduation, a wise friend asked me to think about what kind of person I wanted to be in 20 years. He explained that exploring the answer to that question has a way of revealing your deepest desires and lasting dreams – things that are worth a lifetime of pursuit. He explained that the next step is to prayerfully pursue what path you should take to grow into those dreams. My personal answers surprised me, simply because they had little to do with what the world (or my short-sightedness) assigns value. Another thing surprised me… God may be less concerned about the path I take as opposed to how I take it.
I’ve now tried to take this idea of "thinking long term" another step, by looking at how a believer would extend their decision making into the realm of eternity (heaven). I believe “to set our minds on things above,” even amidst our circumstances, struggles and joys would naturally translate into wisdom in the way we live our daily lives. Instead of thinking 20 years ahead, we would be thinking infinitely beyond life on earth and, consequently, our values would reflect this perspective. This is all dependent on an intimate walk with Christ, of course.
For those of you who have taken calculus (it took me two times to pass, don’t worry), this graph may help you understand what I mean (or, maybe not!). The X axis is a person’s age, the Y axis is their foresight length (better put, the vantage point from which they make life decisions).
Naturally, as a person ages, their ability to use experience and wisdom grows so that they may foresee the implications of their decisions on the long term. For example, take the average 35 year old non-believer (blue curve in the graph) – they have matured in wisdom in regards to their decision making skills as compared to when they were 20 years old. They see more long term. However, even with years of experience, if you take the tangent (red lines) of any one point on the line, the slope of the tangent is still not headed to eternity. Their wisdom (partially) served its turn here on earth, but there is nothing for them in eternity simply because their decisions were not made with heaven in mind.
Now let’s take the average 35 year old believer. If they truly live with an eternal perspective, making every decision based on their eternal implications – their foresight extends in a vertical line straight “up” into eternity, the eternity in which they now reside. If you take the tangent of any point on this line, you are headed directly towards eternity. Every decision they make is rooted in, and benefits, eternity. I believe this reality is why Christ was obedient even to the cross, Stephen praised God as he was stoned to death and the girl at Columbine said “Yes” to the boy who held a gun to her head.
Given that the area under the curve is God’s wisdom, I believe (generally) the more long term our thinking, the closer we grow towards God’s wisdom; if we think only in terms of eternity, we become very close to thinking in God’s terms. However, I’m afraid that many believers maintain the perspective represented by the blue line – and even though they may go to heaven, there will be very little treasure stored upon their arrival.
If you didn’t understand the graph, with all the tangent, curve and axis talk – don’t worry, I’m not sure I understand it either. Here’s my point: if your mind is always on the things of heaven, your life will be filled with wisdom and foresight rather than be rocked by the waves of circumstance. You will value what can be stored in heaven, not what will burn up here on earth. When you pass onto the rest of eternity, the decisions you have made here will continue on the same tangent into eternity. Sorry for making you think about math again – uggh, flashbacks.
What if we lived this life as if it were only a very short, but significant, part of our eternal life; if all our thoughts, actions and decisions were based upon the premise that they will carry on into eternity? After all, that is our reality as citizens of heaven, right? A vitally important question to ask yourself is, "if I were to die today, could I say that up to this point I have pursued efforts of worth to the Kingdom of God?"
Back when I was beginning to make some serious decisions about which direction I wanted to take after graduation, a wise friend asked me to think about what kind of person I wanted to be in 20 years. He explained that exploring the answer to that question has a way of revealing your deepest desires and lasting dreams – things that are worth a lifetime of pursuit. He explained that the next step is to prayerfully pursue what path you should take to grow into those dreams. My personal answers surprised me, simply because they had little to do with what the world (or my short-sightedness) assigns value. Another thing surprised me… God may be less concerned about the path I take as opposed to how I take it.
I’ve now tried to take this idea of "thinking long term" another step, by looking at how a believer would extend their decision making into the realm of eternity (heaven). I believe “to set our minds on things above,” even amidst our circumstances, struggles and joys would naturally translate into wisdom in the way we live our daily lives. Instead of thinking 20 years ahead, we would be thinking infinitely beyond life on earth and, consequently, our values would reflect this perspective. This is all dependent on an intimate walk with Christ, of course.
For those of you who have taken calculus (it took me two times to pass, don’t worry), this graph may help you understand what I mean (or, maybe not!). The X axis is a person’s age, the Y axis is their foresight length (better put, the vantage point from which they make life decisions).
Naturally, as a person ages, their ability to use experience and wisdom grows so that they may foresee the implications of their decisions on the long term. For example, take the average 35 year old non-believer (blue curve in the graph) – they have matured in wisdom in regards to their decision making skills as compared to when they were 20 years old. They see more long term. However, even with years of experience, if you take the tangent (red lines) of any one point on the line, the slope of the tangent is still not headed to eternity. Their wisdom (partially) served its turn here on earth, but there is nothing for them in eternity simply because their decisions were not made with heaven in mind.
Now let’s take the average 35 year old believer. If they truly live with an eternal perspective, making every decision based on their eternal implications – their foresight extends in a vertical line straight “up” into eternity, the eternity in which they now reside. If you take the tangent of any point on this line, you are headed directly towards eternity. Every decision they make is rooted in, and benefits, eternity. I believe this reality is why Christ was obedient even to the cross, Stephen praised God as he was stoned to death and the girl at Columbine said “Yes” to the boy who held a gun to her head.
Given that the area under the curve is God’s wisdom, I believe (generally) the more long term our thinking, the closer we grow towards God’s wisdom; if we think only in terms of eternity, we become very close to thinking in God’s terms. However, I’m afraid that many believers maintain the perspective represented by the blue line – and even though they may go to heaven, there will be very little treasure stored upon their arrival.
If you didn’t understand the graph, with all the tangent, curve and axis talk – don’t worry, I’m not sure I understand it either. Here’s my point: if your mind is always on the things of heaven, your life will be filled with wisdom and foresight rather than be rocked by the waves of circumstance. You will value what can be stored in heaven, not what will burn up here on earth. When you pass onto the rest of eternity, the decisions you have made here will continue on the same tangent into eternity. Sorry for making you think about math again – uggh, flashbacks.
posted by Brad at 10:14 PM
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