When Does Eternity Start for You?

           

            SO, WHEN does eternity or heaven start for you? When you die and make the spiritual transition to Heaven? When Christ returns to earth to set up his millennial kingdom? Or does it start the minute we relinquish our lives to Christ and claim Him as our Lord and Savior?

           

            I admit that I hadn’t given a lot of thought to the specifics and implications of that question until recently. I, as many others, often speak of living eternally, and into eternity. But the question pricked my conscience while listening to one of MercyMe’s new songs on their Lifer CD. Their take on it is that eternity starts at the moment of salvation, and, after carefully listening to the words and reading the lyrics, I got that AH HA! moment of agreement with them.

           

            And then I wondered why, if that’s true, we Christians don’t often live like it—with joy overflowing, singing to the rooftops, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ with the same passion that the Apostles and other disciples have throughout the ages. Getting others around us all pumped up about it. Why do we seem so lukewarm and jaded about all of it, worrying more about this life than what Jesus has promised us in the “next”. (Which really isn’t the next; it’s the continuation of this one after we make the transition.) Why do we so often explain it in such dour terms?

           

            Today is music Monday, and I want us to think about the question and get excited about it. Jump up and down with joy and thanksgiving. Sing with thanksgiving and praise of the One who did make it happen, is making it happen, and will make it happen!

           

            Isn’t life sweeter when you know in your heart that you’re already there, in eternity? We don’t have to live as though we’re just trying to get through this life so we can move onto the next. If we’re in Christ and He’s in us, then we’re really already there! Live and rejoice like eternity is here and now, not when this life is over. Heaven is here with us. It has started!

           

            Listen and rejoice—Heaven’s Here!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfQgGeIYWao

           

            If you didn’t leap off the couch and start dancing around to that song, then you will with the next one! Display your unspeakable joy—get up and get your feet moving. You’ve got plenty of reasons to be dancing.

           

            Happy Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zm7Hf-2h8c

           

            Happy Dance Official audio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jQoJcAxPpg

            

            But what if life is beating you to a pulp right now, your heart is breaking, and your faith is hanging by a frayed thread? What if you’re walking through the fire? 

           What if God didn’t move those mountains for you, when you knew He could?

           

            I totally get it. I’ve been there. If you’ve ever lost a child, as we have, a spouse, or a treasured parent or friend, or suffered a heartbreaking, catastrophic loss, sometimes it’s impossible to dredge up any joy; it’s impossible to sing and praise. All you can do is weep and ache and curl up in the fetal position. You feel like the heartache is so great that you’re going to die, and you’d rather die than endure it.

           

            MercyMe gets it too. And this song is for you, and for all of us that can relate.

           

           

            Live performance of “Even If”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHosmHnOrb8

           

            Official lyric video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y

May the rest of your day and week be blessed, with joy and peace and a feeling of soul security!

Until next week.

Blessings,

           

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photos courtesy of Google Images