Thinking about the other side of eternity

by Matt Slick

A while back I was hospitalized and had to have emergency surgery. While recovering, I was thinking about how I needed to take care of myself, how I needed to eat better and exercise more. I envisioned being in the hospital in another 20 or 30 years wishing I had eaten better and exercised more. So, instead of waiting 20 or 30 years to come up and regret what I was doing now, I decided to take care of myself. I decided to make changes. Now I eat better and go to the gym regularly.

So, one day I was thinking about what would it be like when I was in heaven. I tried to imagine great things, and then I was comforted by knowing that the Scripture says we can't even begin to understand the great treasures that God has in store for us once we get there. But then I thought of something else.

Will I be looking back at my time here on earth and have regrets about not witnessing more, not praying more, or not reading my Bible enough? Will I have used God’s gifting appropriately or will I have buried my talents and done little with them?

In short, I was forced to look at my life and take assessment. I did not want to enter eternity not having tried to honor God as much as I could.

So, like the issue of taking better care of myself, I decided that now is the time to make changes in my spiritual life. So, I pray more. I read more of God's word. I ask God to use me even more, I try to treat my wife better, and I try to be a better father, etc. Sometimes it isn’t easy, but it is always worth it. I want to yield more of what I am to my Lord now so that I will have used my life more for His glory. I do this because of what Jesus did on the cross, in order to demonstrate how great he is and how worthy he is of being praised.

I do not want to enter heaven with regrets. Oh, I know I’m going to have plenty of regrets, but I want to minimize them now. So, now is the time to put away childish things. Now is the time to seek more of God. Now is the time to do what needs to be done.  

Let me ask you, when you think about entering into heaven and imagine yourself looking back at where you are now, will you wish you did more for God? After you’re done thinking about it, go do it.