From one Fellow Vapor to Another

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending Disciple Now, a youth retreat with the church I attend. We talked about our identities in Christ, eternity and faith manifested through works. Overall, the weekend was super fun and it refreshed my thoughts on a lot of simple, meaningful truths that I often let myself forget, or often think I've been a Christian too long to even bother thinking about. What a prideful attitude though. I was reminded that if I'm not constantly digging in the Word and acknowledging Christ Jesus as my identity, then I'm going to be attacked by the devil. How can I ever let myself feel like that is Christian "baby food" or something. Those things right there are core.

Anyhow, on to the real purpose of this post...

Like I said, we talked about eternity a lot. And it really got me thinking about our lives in comparison to forever. When you think about it, you realize that you can't really think about it. I mean, our minds are so finite, that it's impossible to even grasp the whole concept of forever. When I think about it, I just think of forever, but my mind automatically puts and end on that. Then I try to push my mind to think past that end. But the longer you try to do this, the harder it seems to really understand eternity. See, we live of such a time-based, time-centered world. "All good things must come to an end." But, eternity won't be that way. I find myself literally chasing my brain around in circles trying to wrap my mind around this too-big-for-humans truth.

To help us even grasp a mental image of our lives compared to eternity, I'll give a few inadequate, petty, unworthy examples. One word in a dictionary. A drop of water in the ocean. A single fiber in the carpet. A sewing pin in a haystack. One grain of sand on a beach. Although these might help us understand the brevity of our lives in light of forever, even these earthly examples have an end.

To make the thought of eternity even harder to understand, let's consider the fact that we will go through eternity with extreme emotions. Like extreme extreme. Think about the most guilty, angry, mournful, bitter, fearful or painful feeling you ever felt. Now, imagine feeling that certain emotion even stronger. Imagine it several times, always trying to imagine it more intense than the time before. Your worst nightmare can't familiarize the terror you will feel if you spend eternity in hell because you rejected the message of Jesus. Two unthinkable things together: the highest state of horror forever.

But, on the flip side. Every positive, beautiful emotion you've ever had. Multiply those. And imagine them again and again, greater every time until you feel like your brain will pop. Crazy happiness, overwhelming love, forever and ever.

My finite mind can't even scratch the surface of this.

Those are the two options for eternity. I know I used this verse in my last post, but I shall use it again. James 4:14 "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." If my life, compared to eternity, is really like a vapor that vanishes in a moment, why the HECK am I living that moment for myself? Why am I living that moment, for the moment, when all the rest, of the rest, of the rest, of the rest, of the rest of eternity is waiting. Eternity is what I should be living for! I have this one breath, this one moment, to impact my eternity and to impact someone else's eternity.

Why am I wasting time saying, "Oh, what will he think of me?" when that person's and my eternity are on the line.

 I guess I'm just realizing the absurdity of not speaking out, sharing my faith, living on the edge, breaking the mold, impacting people, serving and pursuing God. Why? Why am I trading eternal, unimaginable rewards and pleasures for a second of earthly satisfaction - which is literally just a blip in eternity? 

Sincerely,
The Vapor