Life is Short ~ Eternity Isn't

“For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.” —Psalm 36:9

W. M. Lewis said, “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
I think we all really want life to the fullest. We want more than mere existence; we want life that is worth living.

When I was seventeen, I went on a diligent search in my life. My mom had married and divorced seven times. She was a big drinker, a big partier. And this got me searching for the meaning of life at a very early age.

When I looked at the adult world I was exposed to, I found nothing in it that I wanted. I couldn’t think of any person that I really had that much admiration for, and I thought there had to be more to life. So I began my search.

Interestingly, I was attracted to things that were good. I was looking for something wholesome, something solid and stable. I came to faith on my high school campus after I saw a group of Christians having a Bible study. These Christians were living life to its fullest, and it radiated from them. So I decided I wanted some of that.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV). The abundant life is not necessarily a long life, though it may be. We will live as long as God wants us to live. Nor is it necessarily a life free of sorrow, heartache, or tragedy. Even Christians experience all of that.

The abundant life is one in which we are content in the knowledge that God’s grace is more than sufficient for our needs. It’s the knowledge that nothing can suppress it and that God’s favor for us is unending. That is the abundant life as presented by Jesus.

Matthew 6:26

I have a stray cat that comes to my house, and I give him milk. I also give seed to the birds that come to my backyard. And if I do that for animals, then won’t I take care of my own children and grandchildren?

In the same way, we don’t follow a stingy God. Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32 NKJV).

We’re not serving a God who is reluctant to show affection toward us. We’re serving a God who loves to bless us and wants to lavish His love on us.

Jesus essentially argued this point by saying, “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?” (Matthew 6:26 NKJV).

And the apostle Paul pointed out that God proved His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us. In Romans 8 he wrote, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (verse 32 NKJV).

Basically Paul was saying, “Look, while you were a sinner, God gave His best by sending His Son to die for you. Therefore, now that you are His children, will He not give you all that you need? He’s going to take care of you.”

Paul also wrote to the believers in Ephesus that God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT).

God loves to bless us. And He will give us the things we need when we need them.

“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?” Matthew 6:26

Are you taking hold of God’s promises today?

Know the Bible!