Thursday; February 3

Not long ago, a friend of mine called me and asked a rather interesting question. The crux of the query was if I believed that people were influenced by their opinion of the afterlife. In other words, do some people avoid things because they are afraid they are going to go to hell if they do them … or maybe it’s the contrast, do some people do things because they hope it will ensure them the blessings of heaven? As I thought about those concepts, I have to admit that I wasn’t as convinced as I should be. In fact, my first thought was that I didn’t think most people really gauged what they did by the eternal impact it would have. In retrospect, I have begun to wonder if we have done a disservice to people by not talking about the ultimate consequences of our actions. We do a good job of encouraging people to do the right things because it makes this world a better place to live. We have even shaped some people’s behavior by making them afraid to do things because there might be negative consequences (such as jailtime, physical harm or social stigma) attached to bad choices. Yet, have we been too wishy-washy on the idea of eternal reward and punishment?
I don’t know who all believes in heaven and hell today, but I do know one person who did – Jesus. Jesus contrasted the two extremes by describing God’s appreciation for the righteous, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34) with His condemnation of the unjust, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). If we believe that Jesus was with God during the creation, we can be assured that He knows the truth about the life to come!
Let’s make good decisions. As we do, let’s not just assess the impact our choices will have on our future successes – but on our eternity as well.

Think About It!

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