Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
A Case of the Gimmes
I remember as a kid spending all year long making a list of all the toys that I wanted for my birthday or Christmas or the upcoming holiday. You'd see it on TV, you'd see it at the store, and you just couldn't wait to have it. It didn't matter how much you already had at home. That was old news. There was new stuff that you needed.
Now I look back at all of those things that I probably played with for a couple of months and shoved into the back of the closet, because something else new grabbed my attention that I just felt like I absolutely needed. Isn't that just the way of the world? We always crave more.
We need the newest thing—the newest phone, the high-tech car, the new device. We just get this incredible case of the gimmes, and nothing seems to last because something new always comes along.
Our Verse of the Day is a little bit of medicine that will help cure that case of the gimmes. It comes from 1 John chapter 2, verse 17. It says, "And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever."
Here for a Good Time, Not a Long Time
There is a phrase that somebody I used to work with would use all the time. They would say, "I'm here for a good time, not a long time." They would say it tongue-in-cheek, but if you watched how they lived, there was a sense that they actually believed that—that they were here for a good time, not a long time.
The way that they stacked their schedule didn't give them any time for rest, and they were starting to burn out. The way that they treated people when they were having difficult conversations made it seem like they didn't care if the relationship fell apart or not. The way that they fueled their body with energy drinks instead of nutrition didn't really speak to them realizing they were the temple of God.
Eternity Starts Now
They were living like now was the only thing to focus on. Maybe they mentally knew that eternity was coming, but that was something for the future. The reality is, when we put our faith in Jesus, eternity starts now. John is reminding the church here that this world is fading away, along with everything in it. We might crave the latest and greatest, the newest, and we might live like we're here for a good time, not a long time.
The reality is, if you love God and you want to please God, then you will live in such a way that you actually believe it. It's these sorts of people that John says will live forever—not because they're earning their salvation, but because they're living like it starts now. This also means that we can't treat the Gospel like our get-out-of-hell-free card.
We can't view salvation as something that just takes away all of our sins so that we can focus on all the things that bring us joy in the moment. We have to live by Paul's words in Colossians—to put off the old man and to put on the new man, to live in light of eternity.
Built for Eternity
The reality is that it's hard to think about what eternity really means. I mean, we've really lived in such a way that we can only look at life from birth to death. Man, life goes on forever when you have God in it. Don't live like you're just here for a good time and not a long time. We are God's chosen, built for eternity, and so it's time that we start living like it.
