Eternity is the right metric for the here and now

 

Photo by William Warby on Unsplash

I liked the idea: a poster with all the weeks included in 88 years; the item is called My Life in Weeks. Each week is represented by a tiny square, and each row of 52 squares represents a year of one's life. The purpose, the poster's creator informs us, is that by marking each week off, one can see a picture of how much time has passed since their birthday and how much time - how many weeks - are left if the buyer gets to live to 88.

Exciting concept, indeed.

And I almost bought it.

But, do I need a tool, a calendar in this instance, to remind me that I do have a limited allotted time in this life? Am I really in a hurry to accomplish something in this life before exiting it? If so, then what do I think and believe the here and now is for?

Yes, the full Gospel of grace working in my heart calls me to engage, be concerned about, and participate in this life, but this call is always given in the context of the approaching glory. In other words, I must use eternity as the metric to measure what I am doing now instead of considering this life my "last opportunity" to find fulfillment. This idea - that the here and now is more important, more fun than eternity - is often expressed in terms of productivity, planning for the future, and even encouragement to leave a legacy, something to be remembered by. 

As an apprentice of the Master, I must have a sense of urgency to imitate Him as faithfully as possible, but never at the expense of ignoring that He is at hand, that the rest He has prepared for His Church is almost here.

Then, my encouragement to get things done before leaving this place for my real home should come from the proximity of His Day and not from the sense of losing my chances of enjoying real life, of finding absolute satisfaction.

What about you? What motivates your engagement now?

-AV