I recently experienced a sobering vision-like awareness that I have absolutely nothing of this world; no wife (1Co 7:29), no children, no family, no job, no health, no friends, no home, no nothing. (30) I am currently enjoying all these things, but I do not have any of them; they are like a vapor that will vanish away in an instant. (Ja 4:14b) Ownership and control is an illusion; attachment to illusion is a lie. (1Co 7:31)
I can still feel this, as if I am on my deathbed, my whole life passing before me, and nothing of my temporal interests or activity in this world is of any consequence. Eventually, my entire life will be completely forgotten, as if it never happened, just like all who have gone on before me, dropping out into the infernal blackness, never to be seen again. This is the consummation of all worldly ambition, and it will be the same for mine: nothing.
Such is the way of all the earth, focused on our tiny little lives as if we’re going to live here forever.
The wise Preacher says, “Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: but if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.” (Ec 11:7-8)
As I navigate this life, I am to remember eternity and focus my heart there. (Mt 6:21) For each of us it will be either glory beyond anything we can imagine (2Co 4:17), or eternal darkness and blackness forever (Ju 13), even darkness which may be felt. (Ex 10:21)
So, what do I actually have right now, in the here and now? I have God, and what He is doing in me to transform me into his image. This is the work of God, and this will endure forever. (1Jn 2:17) This is what I have: the light. (1Jn 1:5) This is all I have; I have nothing else.
Yet who am I to presume this? Many think they have a secure relationship with Jesus Christ (Mt 7:22), that He is their best bud — LGBTQ activists, drunkards, fornicators and adulterers, you name it. False hope in a false religion is a wonderfully deceptive thing. (1Jn 3:7-8)
So very few will find eternal light; even the Preacher fell away (1Ki 11:9-10), and we have no real indication that he ever found his way back. How easily we preach the Word and neglect to do it, deceiving ourselves! (Ja 1:22)
Yet he spoke eternal truth that grounds us in reality when we receive the Word with meekness (Ja 1:21): the days of darkness will indeed be many, dwarfing this life until it is all but forgotten, a tiny spec in the distant past. The souls of the lost will long for any faint strand of light, and there will be none. How unspeakably dreadful! Who can even begin to imagine this?
Remembering the pitch blackness of eternity makes me exceedingly grateful for God’s gift of sunlight (Mt 5:45), and for spiritual light, drawing me again to ensure I am not being led off course by seducing spirits (1Ti 1:4) comforting me in my own deception, as they do the world. (Ep 2:2) The foundation of God stands sure: Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1Jn 2:17)
The key of assurance, as always, is found in Torah, the light (Pr 6:23), the perfect revelation of Jesus Christ (Jn 5:39), exposing the enmity and darkness of all who despise any part of it (He 10:28-29), as a rejection of Himself. (Ro 8:7) We must keep turning back to Torah (Is 8:20) to enjoy the glory of Christ. (2Co 3:14)
Who will come to One Who demands we give up all to follow Him? (Lk 14:33) When He isn’t offering us prosperity in this life, but to take up our cross for Him? (Mt 10:38) When His offer is to give us new hearts which delight in Torah and keep it all? (He 8:10) How many are drawn to His invitation? Barely a handful? These are His elect.
And yet this is the Christ of the Bible, coming to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21), from their violations of Torah (1Jn 3:4), the law of His eternal kingdom (Mt 5:19), that we may walk in the light, as He is in the light, and have fellowship with Him. (1Jn 1:5-7) While we have the light, let’s believe in the light, that we may be the children of light. (Jn 12:36)