If our lives are short and eternity is long, why not live for the sake of eternity?

12 The wicked desire the plunder of evildoers [temporal goals and security],
but the root [God’s plan and reward] of the righteous endures.

28 In the way of righteousness there is [eternal] life; along that path is immortality.

We all have a calling from God. In fact, it is how we came to Christ in the first place. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them” John 6:44. This calling is “to believe in [trust in and rely on] the one [Jesus] He has sent” John 6:29. If the Spirit has His way in our lives, our desires will become His desires; we will want what God wants, which is, for “everyone to come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9.

The apostle Paul felt very strongly for his flock at Galatia. He told them, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” Galatians 4:19. The NLT says it this way,

¹⁹ Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.

It boils down to this: Do we know Christ personally? Is His Spirit living in us? If so, then we need to contemplate the next questions very deeply:

• Do we really want God’s will to be accomplished regardless of how it affects us?
• Are we really committed to the growth of the Church, “which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way” Ephesians 1:22?
• Are we willing to be used however God deems is the best way to reach the lost people of this world, to strengthen those who are weary, to give hope to the hopeless, and to lead them to Jesus?
• Are we willing to commit to do anything, go through anything, go anywhere, and be available anytime for Him?
• Will we prepare, train, and practice for the next thing that our Lord has for us to do on our way to glory?

God has promised to keep working on us and in us until we are “fully developed” spiritually. In other words, He wants us to be just like Jesus (1 John 4:17). Let’s commit our lives to Him today.

Abba, I commit my life to You today. I pledge my time, my talents, my resources, my money, and even my life for the sake of doing Your will. I promise to listen to You and obey You today beginning with opening Your Word and reading about You and Your mission. Your mission is my mission. When I get up tomorrow, I intend to commit my life to You again–built on my experience of walking with You yet another day. You lead; I will follow. Amen.