Monday, April 16, 2007

Making an Eternal Difference


If you have ever been to Sea World, you would have seen a scene like this, where a dolphin performs and is rewarded with some food. In life, we often perform for the rewards we receive. Maybe the reward is friendship, or a promotion, or a kind word from another. But we often live for rewards.
Rewards can be nice, but the rewards we seek are usually very temporary. What if we could live our lives in a way that would make an eternal difference? If this could be true, then how amazing our lives could be. The truth is, it is true. The apostle Paul wrote in the bible, in 2 Corinthians 4:18, 18"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
In the Bible, we are told that we can make an eternal difference. But we have to understand that what is eternal is limited. What is it we can do to affect the eternal?
The most important thing that we can do is to tell people about Jesus. The Bible is clear that those who accept Jesus into their lives will have salvation; meaning they will live with God in heaven for eternity. How wonderful would it be to get to heaven and know that there are people there because of you?! We cannot just stand around and let people get lost in this world. Those of us who know about Jesus need to share Jesus with those who don't know Him.
A second way we affect the eternal is to help people live out their purpose. God created each one of us unique and with purpose. Too many people are going through life not being all that they were created to be. By helping people to discover and use the gifts God gave them can help give people the life they were meant to live. This life will be so much more exciting, meaningful, and effective.
A third way we affect the eternal is to love others. Love is the one emotion that will carry on into heaven. 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us, "13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Since God is love (1 John 4:8), love is what heaven will be all about; loving God, God loving us, and us loving each other. When we learn how to love, and teach others to love, we experience a bit of heaven on earth.
Do you really want to settle for temporary rewards, or do you want to shoot for the eternal? Tell me what you think by clicking on the "comments" button below.