Have you ever considered that everything you and I can see and touch is ultimately going to pass away? We live in a perishable world; it is all subject to decay and destruction. However, the things of heaven are imperishable; they will last forever! And we can store up our true treasure in heaven.
Jesus said, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal” (Matthew 6:20, NASB). Do you want to be rich in the next world, the real world, the world that will last forever? If so, you need to be actively converterlating the perishable items of this world into the imperishable treasures of the world to come.
Converterlators understand that we all live in a time bubble that can pop in this perishing world at any time. When that happens we will find ourselves in a totally different paradigm. The wise person realizes that in the end, all of our earthly time, talent, and treasure is going to perish.
Each one of us has to make a choice: Do we want to enjoy life within the Lord’s framework so our lives can echo into eternity, or are we going to live our lives dedicated to the temporary values of this perishing world?
As we study the Bible, we discover we are in the middle of two totally different value systems that are striving to win our commitment and loyalty. The first is what we call the perishable world system, and the second is the imperishable eternal realm.
The world system is doing everything it can to consume all of our temporary time, talent, and treasure, enticing us to invest all of them into stuff, activity, and experiences that in the end of life will have no eternal value. Self, fame, status, personal wealth: these things take the place that God should have in our lives.
On the other hand, we have the value system of the heavenly realm revealed to us by the person of Jesus Christ emphasizing a life of love, giving, and serving. This involves work that leads to glorifying God, building treasure for oneself in the next world, and living a life of fulfillment in this world as well. Jesus Christ came into this world not only to save us from separation from God for eternity; he also came into the world to save us from wasting our lives while we are here in this world.
The value system of the heavenly realm is revealed to us by the person of Jesus Christ.
Everything you and I can see and touch is ultimately going to pass away. Our time, talent, and treasure from a value standpoint will expire when we do. In eternity they will do us no good. We are forced to spend and use them while we are here on this side of eternity. We are like the shopper who has won a contest and is allowed to buy as many groceries as she can within a short period of time. When the time expires, the shopping spree ends.
However, although all worldly wealth is going to perish, the Bible tells us that the Word of God will never pass away, and we also know that the soul of each person is going to exist forever in either heaven or hell. This is good news.
We have the opportunity to make a difference beyond this perishing world!
It’s easy to be blinded by earthly wealth. One day I took a penny and held it very close to my eye, keeping the other eye closed. I found that if I held the penny close enough to my eye, I could block out the sun. In the same way, the pennies of this world can block out the power and life of Jesus Christ when we hold them too close.
Scripture has names for the things that are a barrier between us and God, “But the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19, NIV, emphasis added). These things can keep us from having the relationship God wants us to have with him. We fail to realize that, “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, ESV).
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with things or money. However, we enter into the red zone of trouble when we look to them to provide life for us as a substitute for God in our lives. It is only through the prism of the Cross that we can see the true purpose for why God has given us our resources. We need to remember that our earthly resources have been given to us so that we can enjoy them and use them for eternal purposes along life’s way. We want to be in the process of helping to save people from a purposeless eternity.
The time, talent, and treasure we have are all perishable, but they become imperishable when we invest them in the kingdom of God; they last forever with ever-increasing eternal rewards.
The eternal rewards that we will someday receive should be a huge motivational factor in the life of the believer. The Bible is filled with verses that talk about our eternal reward. Here is one from the book of Revelation:
Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
—Revelation 22:12
We are living in a perishable world. We are going to a world that is imperishable. In the meantime we are to be preparing for the imperishable world by being engaged in a transformation process in this perishing world. The game clock is running. What are you doing on the playing field to make a difference for all eternity?
What are the perishable things in your life that are receiving your time, talent, and treasure?
Continue to read “Making a Difference for All Eternity”.
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