Life is short and eternity is long. Believe it or not, that is the truth. Living through a Pandemic, we do see so many dying – our loved ones and hundreds of thousands of whom we hear just as numbers. We ought to know where we will spend eternity. Reason – Because eternity is incredibly long!
Considering that we work our tails off to have a little better comfortable life in this miserable world, how much more of a priority should the preparation for eternal life be, right?! Yet, most people don’t know or care about eternal life. When we go on a vacation trip, how much planning do we do for our travel, accommodation and plans of places to see and what not. Should we not at least care to know about what will happen once our breath stops in this life? First step is to know and understand that there is such thing as eternity which can be either heaven which is perfect in joy with no pain and sufferings and tears and sickness or hell which is never-ending painful misery which never ends. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Mathew 7:14
A rich young ruler – this man was rich, young and had authority- came to Jesus, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”. So Jesus said to him, “You know the commandments; Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother’. He claimed that he followed all of this from his childhood. Yet Jesus pointed out one thing to him. Jesus told him to sell whatever he had and give it to the poor and then he will have treasure in heaven and then to take up the cross and follow Him. The rich young ruler was sad at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. What we learn from this is that even when we have the desire to make it to the Kingdom of God, it is not easy. It requires for us to bring everything to the table and not hold on to anything. After this, when the disciples asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?”, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible”.
Mathew 25:31 When Jesus comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, He will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me”.
A journey starts with a mile. And this is the first mile in the journey to heaven – to get rid of selfish and self-centered living and help the needy. Rather than increasing the comfort of our living everyday, we can and should extend a helping hand to the homeless, the orphans, the widows, the ones struggling to make the ends meet, the ones in poor countries.. there are countless opportunities to help out only if we would open our eyes and see Jesus in the ones who are in need.
Mathew 25:41 Then shall the King answer them, “Truly I say to you, in as much as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me”.
