Another Diamond column...
I just finished watching a video by Francis Chan. Check it out J
For those of you not by a computer here’s a brief summary: He has a rope and tells us to imagine this rope going around the world a couple billion times. AKA: it’s eternal. Then at the very beginning of the rope is a tiny little section that is colored red and represents our time on earth right now.
We think stuff like: “I’m going to work really hard and save, save, save so I can really enjoy this part right…here.” (He moves his finger about a ½ inch down the red part of the rope.) That’s stupid.
Then Francis Chan asks, “What about this? (Grabs a section of the rope in “eternity” a couple feet down) Or what about this? (Grabs another section a couple more feet down)…you get the idea. Thinking about those sections…that’s not stupid. That’s logical; that’s wisdom.
The Bible teaches what we do during that little red part determines how we are going to live for millions and billions and zillions of years. In the Parable of the Talents, the Master comes back and takes away the talents that the wicked servant did not use. Then He gives the servant who doubled His talents even more talents!
Eternity is not just sitting around on clouds—we’re going to be doing stuff, really awesome stuff. I know that I want to be doing as much as possible. Why wouldn’t I?—I have all eternity! Don’t think that we’re all going to be doing the exact same things during eternity; I think the Parable of the Talents proves that. God is going to administer duties to us in eternity based on how we’ve handled our duties during this life. So why in the world would we spend this little red part trying to make ourselves as comfortable as possible and enjoy ourselves as much as we can? That’s stupid.
If we live with eternity in mind, worldly people are going to call us stupid. I say “Bring it on!” We don’t get to try this life over again. We get one race and one race only. No do-over’s. No false starts. Hebrews 12 talks about this race. The chapter before gives example after example of Heroes of Faith who kept their eyes on the prize. They didn’t get caught up with this worldly life, and Hebrews tells us that since we have all these other witnesses before us, we can also run that race of endurance and throw off the sin that hinders our race. Verse 2 tells us the only way that we can run this race: We fix our eyes on Jesus and rely on Him to author and perfect our faith.
Fixing your eyes on Jesus means spending time with Him. Talk with Him. Dig into His Word and get to know (with your heart, not just your mind) what He would do in every situation and then do it yourself.
Accept the fact that you’re going to look stupid in the world’s eyes. It’s okay because you know that really you’re doing the most un-stupid thing possible.
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