Just reading in the Gospel of Luke where an expert of the law asks Jesus – What must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus’ response is… Well what do you think, what’s written in the law? The man answered:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” Luke 10:27-28
This seems like an odd response, because if the guy doesn’t do it, is Jesus saying he will die? Well, no. Not in the way we think about living and dying. Jesus is referring to eternal life. But the way he says it… It’s almost like Jesus talks about life as though it begins in heaven. And I think if we understood eternity even a little bit we would get this.
Life After Life
That this life on Earth, this 90 or a hundred years, is really preparation for the “real” life after this one. It’s almost like this life is some sort of a gestation period. And as we grow and develop spiritually, God is preparing us for this next phase. And if we believe in and follow Jesus, we are birthed from the womb of this earth into eternal life.
Jesus spoke a number of times about “life.” And he always seems to be referencing the next life. The eternal life. It seems nearly everything Jesus said and did was referencing the spiritual portion of our being and the eternal life that we are destined for. Jesus understands this life on earth because he experienced it for 33 years. And he understands that it’s the only life that we know.
We get inklings of heaven and the afterlife through Scripture, prayer, and communing with God, and some even have near death experiences that give them a glimpse into eternity. But, let’s be honest, we can talk about and speculate and believe that we know what heaven will be like, but we can’t be sure until we get there.
It’s a little like asking a young child what mommy or daddy do at work. They have some vague idea, but really no concept of what it’s like. I saw a post online where someone asked kids what their parents did. One 4 year old girl’s mom was a teacher and when asked what her mommy does at work, she replied “She tells people what to do.” One kid’s dad was an accountant and he answered “He writes down all the numbers.” It’s cute and it’s funny and they’re not wrong exactly, but of course they only have a very rudimentary idea of what their parents do at work. Because in their limited experience of life, that’s what work is, and that is all they can understand.
Maybe Jesus looks at us in this life in that same way. We think that this is “life” and it is, in a manner of speaking. It’s a version of life. But it’s such a simplistic, even inferior, version of the true life that God has waiting for us. But we are like children, and not equipped to understand the supernatural, no matter how smart we think we are.
What Really Matters?
And when we get there? I get the sense that when we arrive there none of the trials in this life will matter anymore. The struggles and challenges, the difficulties, pain, sadness, failures, the grief… It will all have been important in its time….. But I believe, in eternity all that will matter is what we did for others, and whether we loved and obeyed God. (Which, really, is the same thing.)
It makes all the difficulties I have to go through here on Earth seem somehow insignificant. But at the same time, everything I do and every way that I respond is so significant. If this life is a preparation for the next, then surely in its relatively brief state everything we do matters. Maybe not so much specifically what we do on a daily basis, or what career we chose or what our family status is, but the spirit in which we do all these things. And the motivation and reason for them. Are we doing our best and glorifying God by serving others? Or just going through the motions?
I guess what I’m saying is, in the context of preparing for eternal life, maybe the details of our lives don’t matter nearly as much as we think. Get married, don’t get married…..have kids or don’t… become a doctor, teacher, plumber, lawyer, landscaper, stay at home mom, cashier…It doesn’t much matter. What really matters is the big picture. What was your approach? What was your intent and your motivation? Was it …Be the best at all cost – crush the competition – make the most -spend the most- buy the biggest- make sure you come out on top….
Or did you put others first and find a way to glorify God in everything you did?
So what does this all mean, what am I to do day-to-day? I think God wants us to keep it simple and have a zeal for the important things in life. The really important things, like loving our neighbor and showing our love for Him by loving others in any way possible. ….Giving, helping, listening, loving, noticing, complimenting… and offering forgiveness, deference, justice, trust, support…
This is loving the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself.
What can you do today that will honor God and have a positive impact on someone’s life?
