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.


“For the word of God will never fail.”  ~ Luke 1:37

I don’t know about you, but I get a few gift cards at this time of year. And I have to say that I have quite a few In-N-Out gift cards. While I’m appreciative of these, I’ve shared a few of them with others, because I would weigh 400 pounds if I used them all myself.

According to business researchers, an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion in gift cards will go unused this year. God’s promises are a lot like of gift cards that are left unused. He has made a lot of promises to us, and we need to take hold of those promises.

In fact, Christmas has a lot to do with promises.

Going back to the very beginning, God promised Adam and Eve that a Deliverer would come one day. God promised Isaiah that a virgin would conceive and give birth to the Savior. And God promised Mary she would give birth to that Savior. The angel Gabriel even affirmed this, saying, “For the word of God will never fail” (Luke 1:37 NLT).

Evidently, God wants us to know that He keeps His promises. He certainly kept His promise with Mary, and she was surprised and humbled that God chose her.

Sometimes I’ll come across a gift card that I forgot about, for a place I really like. I’m excited to discover that I have that gift card. I’m also amazed that I haven’t used it yet.

That is what the promises of God are like. They’re just sitting there in the Bible, waiting for us to take hold of. But if we don’t read the Bible, we won’t know God’s promises. We need to read them, believe them, and start living these promises out.

Christmas reminds us that God keeps His promises. Are you taking hold of God’s promises today?

Know the Bible!