“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life.” – Matthew 25:46
There is a rope stretching for as far as
one’s eye can see. Imagine it laid on a
football field, with one end staked to the ground at the goal line at one end
of the field and the rope extending straight down the center towards the other
end. It doesn’t stop at the other goal
line, but continues straight out of the tunnel at the end, onto the parking
lot, and then the street, the park, the subdivisions, the countryside and so
on. For miles and miles, the rope lays
in a perfectly straight line over the horizon beyond your comprehensible
vision.
A person walks up to you and hands you a single red pushpin and asks you to stick it into the rope at any point along the rope within the scope of your visible realm. Taking 10 steps forward you press it into the rope and step back. What did this mean? What is the purpose of this silliness? Consider that the red pushpin represents the entirety of your life on this earth, and the rope represents the entirety of the eternal kingdom. The beginning; all of the history behind you all the way to the infinitely distant, immeasurable future.
Where is your focus? In today’s world we are so focused on the pushpin, the 70, 80 or even 100 years of our life on this earth and ignore the reality that there is an eternal kingdom where we will spend 99.9999999999+ % of our existence. Why is this so hard for mankind to comprehend? Why are we so enamored with and addicted to this realm? Are we so captured by what we see to believe that this is all there is, that we are so important in the cosmos that we can fathom the entirety of mankind’s existence?
Take a step back and look at your existence in the scope of all of humanity. Whether you are a Christian, a Jew, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Wiccan, an Atheist, a Muslim, a Buddhist or none of these; you have a beginning and you will have an end, just like every other human that has walked upon this earth. You must have an opinion on what will happen to you when the end comes. You must have an opinion of what was here before you. Our lives are shaped by our knowledge, our experiences and our environment; but if this is all there is and all there ever has been, then we must ask ourselves, why does anything we do have value?
Each day I make business decisions which impact the lives of those customers and companies that rely on our products. I make decisions that impact the lives of employees that work for the company I work for. If we make a profit or lose money this quarter, people’s livelihood is impacted and their families are impacted. We make a difference in this world, but it is all temporary. Today’s decisions impact tomorrow, but what about 10 years from now, 20 years, 50 years and so on. What am I doing today that will impact the long term future of this world? And if this is true, why should I care – I won’t be here. Do I owe something to the future generations of this planet? Why? Why is it my responsibility to ensure they have a better life? If I have not bigger perspective than my own existence on this rock, then all of a sudden, my social value system begins to crumble quickly. I immediately only become interested in the comfort level of my own personal life while here, and find it very easy to blame others for impacting my comfortable life.
When I step back and consider the eternal picture of God’s Kingdom though, my attitude changes dramatically. All of a sudden, my fellow man becomes more important. I want them to be in heaven with me because I love them, and I am interested in more than my own salvation and future, but theirs as well. All of a sudden, I’m more compassionate, more loving to my neighbor, more forgiving, more empathetic and far less selfish and greed stricken.
I have a infinitely small window of opportunity (the red pushpin) to influence those around me for good, to experience God and His love and to share the gospel. Once it is gone, that responsibility is passed on to others. I could die tomorrow, so what am I doing while standing on this red pushpin on the timeline of eternity that will change the outcome of someone’s eternal well-being. That is what I really get up for each morning, and why I am so driven to want to spread His word. I hope you feel the same today and are willing to share this and spread His gospel along with me, for you see you have a pushpin of your own to work within.
A person walks up to you and hands you a single red pushpin and asks you to stick it into the rope at any point along the rope within the scope of your visible realm. Taking 10 steps forward you press it into the rope and step back. What did this mean? What is the purpose of this silliness? Consider that the red pushpin represents the entirety of your life on this earth, and the rope represents the entirety of the eternal kingdom. The beginning; all of the history behind you all the way to the infinitely distant, immeasurable future.
Where is your focus? In today’s world we are so focused on the pushpin, the 70, 80 or even 100 years of our life on this earth and ignore the reality that there is an eternal kingdom where we will spend 99.9999999999+ % of our existence. Why is this so hard for mankind to comprehend? Why are we so enamored with and addicted to this realm? Are we so captured by what we see to believe that this is all there is, that we are so important in the cosmos that we can fathom the entirety of mankind’s existence?
Take a step back and look at your existence in the scope of all of humanity. Whether you are a Christian, a Jew, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Wiccan, an Atheist, a Muslim, a Buddhist or none of these; you have a beginning and you will have an end, just like every other human that has walked upon this earth. You must have an opinion on what will happen to you when the end comes. You must have an opinion of what was here before you. Our lives are shaped by our knowledge, our experiences and our environment; but if this is all there is and all there ever has been, then we must ask ourselves, why does anything we do have value?
Each day I make business decisions which impact the lives of those customers and companies that rely on our products. I make decisions that impact the lives of employees that work for the company I work for. If we make a profit or lose money this quarter, people’s livelihood is impacted and their families are impacted. We make a difference in this world, but it is all temporary. Today’s decisions impact tomorrow, but what about 10 years from now, 20 years, 50 years and so on. What am I doing today that will impact the long term future of this world? And if this is true, why should I care – I won’t be here. Do I owe something to the future generations of this planet? Why? Why is it my responsibility to ensure they have a better life? If I have not bigger perspective than my own existence on this rock, then all of a sudden, my social value system begins to crumble quickly. I immediately only become interested in the comfort level of my own personal life while here, and find it very easy to blame others for impacting my comfortable life.
When I step back and consider the eternal picture of God’s Kingdom though, my attitude changes dramatically. All of a sudden, my fellow man becomes more important. I want them to be in heaven with me because I love them, and I am interested in more than my own salvation and future, but theirs as well. All of a sudden, I’m more compassionate, more loving to my neighbor, more forgiving, more empathetic and far less selfish and greed stricken.
I have a infinitely small window of opportunity (the red pushpin) to influence those around me for good, to experience God and His love and to share the gospel. Once it is gone, that responsibility is passed on to others. I could die tomorrow, so what am I doing while standing on this red pushpin on the timeline of eternity that will change the outcome of someone’s eternal well-being. That is what I really get up for each morning, and why I am so driven to want to spread His word. I hope you feel the same today and are willing to share this and spread His gospel along with me, for you see you have a pushpin of your own to work within.
Be Blessed,
Rich
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