Just Give Me Earth

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” [Matthew 16:26]

Are you truly planning how you live your life in the here-and-now, in anticipation for the next life? Or are you just living as if this life is all there is?  When presented with the truth about the shortness of life, your inevitable death and about the godless eternity awaiting those who live a life without God – the God of the Bible – and without concern for His commandments, Do you care? Are you among those who are dangerously short-sighted and foolishly optimistic, thinking you will not die very soon or thinking you will not have to give an account to God for your life – when in fact God says in the Bible that you will have to give an account for “every idle word” that you ever spoke (see Matthew 12:36)?

Is your view of heaven based on your own selfish lusts?  Do you think heaven will be whatever your selfish heart desires?  Are you expecting heaven to be a big golf course or a splendid fishing hole in the sky? Do you expect it to be a bar with endless booze on tap?  A place where you can cram even more food into your face than you did on earth? A never ending ballgame? A huge Walmart super-store where you can get whatever “stuff” you want without even having to pay for it? A place where you can indulge in all your sexual lusts – as the Mormons and Muslims are expecting in the afterlife?  Are you execting to even fit into a place as holy as heaven?  Do you realize that people who are unfit for heaven will be horrified at the sight of the Lord Jesus Christ when he returns to earth?  They will want to say to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” [Revelation 6:16]

Are you among those who don’t even want to be bothered with the thought of death, heaven or hell … and who say by their lives “Just give me earth.”? 

Perhaps you would do yourself a big favor and read this parable:

“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, my soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” [Luke 12:16-21]

In Luke chapter 12, verses 29 through 34, God tells us what we need to focus on:

“And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” [Luke 12:29-34]”

And if you are a true child of God and you are anxiously living this life in preparation for heaven, then you will take heed to this admonition that God gives us here in Luke 12, verses 35 to 40:

“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” [Luke 12:35-40]

To the Christian reader: I don’t know about you dear brother or sister, but when I go shopping for things, especially big items like cars or anything I know I can easily live without, I need my spending priorities kept in the proper heavenly perspective by the word of God.  And Luke 12 verse 15 does an excellent job of summarizing what our priorities should NOT be:

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” [Luke 12:15]

So, it is important that we live modestly in this day and age where conspicuous consumption is so heavily marketed and sought after by the lost souls in the world around us. It is also important that we redeem the time. Time is our most limited and most valuable resource in this life. God has only allotted each of us only so many hours on this earth. Are we using that time wisely to minister to others in the name of Christ and to share the Gospel and make disciples? Or are we overly focused on the things of this world? Are we financially well off and yet spending an inordinate amount of time trying to save money, hold onto the money we have and amass even more money and possessions, when we could instead be going out on the highways and byways of this world, warning the lost to flee the wrath to come, a wrath that may be coming sooner than we think? May our contentment with that which meets our needs (versus our wants) be a good witness to those who say – by their words and their lives – “Just give me earth”.

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