We live in a very fast paced world. We can get an oil change in 15 minutes. We can get pizza delivered to our door in 30 minutes. We can get everything we want shipped the next day, even the kitchen sink. We can pump our gas from the “fastest pumps in town”. We like express lanes, speedy checkouts, and our food fast. The other day my husband and I went to get our chicken from a fast food place, and were told that our chicken would take three minutes, and they would bring it to us. Three minutes wasn’t really that long of a wait. It would take me much longer to grill chicken at home. They apologized for the “long” wait, and gave us a coupon for a free chicken sandwich. We, as a society, have an attitude of urgency when it comes to the things we want in this life. But what happens when we start to think about our eternal life? That sense of urgency seems to go right out the window because we are young and going to live forever. Right?
Every day we are getting older. Every day we are getting a step closer to our last breath. I know it isn’t pleasant to think about that, but it is the truth (Hebrews 9:27). Living to be 95 when you are 36 seems to be a long time, but eternity is much longer. If eternity is much longer than my life here on this earth, shouldn’t I be using what physical time I have preparing for that place? I mean we are going to be there forever, and ever, and forever some more, and wouldn’t we want the best forever place option? This eternal life stuff is urgent because maybe we will live another 57 years, but maybe we won’t. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. James says our life is a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14).
It seems the older I get the swifter the vapor is vanishing. The weeks, months and years are going by so fast that one morning I am going to wake up and be 95 and wonder where the time went. Let’s not let this fast paced world move us so fast that we forget what is really important. Let’s not forget to be preparing for that forever place. Let’s take this fast paced, urgent attitude we have with our physical lives and turn its focus on the eternal. The Ethiopian eunuch did and he went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:27-39). The Philippian jailor did straightway and rejoiced (Acts 16:23-34). It is urgent that we get on the right path, the path that leads to the best forever place (Matthew 7:13-14;
Revelation 2:10).
By: Kristina Odom
Kristina and her husband, Justin, serve with the church of Christ in Fairfield, IL where her husband is the preacher. Kristina is a stay-at-home mother to their three teenage kids and the author of Be A Light.