AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

Apparently in the movie "Gladiator", (which I have never seen), the hero makes this profound statement "What we do in life echoes in eternity". These words, although coming from a fictional character in a movie, express a scriptural truth. We are not here on this planet at this particular time in history just to take up space. We are here by God's plan to make a difference in our world. Our lives can have an eternal influence on the lives of those around us. Having the perspective of living for eternity can make all the difference in our world. In (Col 3:1) we read "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand". God values people above all else, and we should too. It's easy to get caught up in the "rat race" of making a living, and trying to "get ahead" in life, which is not wrong in itself, but often we get things out of focus. He shows us in His Word that He values people above possessions, and our character above our performance!

This is often difficult for us grasp, because performance has been programed into us from childhood, in one way or another. In our materialistic 21st century, much emphasis has been placed on the accumulation of "things". And even in Christian circles because of the influence of the "prosperity" teaching, we are made to believe that material possessions are a sign of God's blessings. The teaching of Jesus is quite the opposite of this, where He tells not to store up things on this earth, but to have a heavenly perspective, much like Paul's advice to the Colossians. Our perspective governs our actions, and consequently our relationship with others in the body of Christ. Christianity is, after all, not a "religion", but a "relationship" with Jesus. Because most of us have been brought up in various churches that tend to be traditional, and "religious", our perspective on the "Church" that Jesus is in the process of building has been faulty. We need to lay aside what we have been taught about church doctrine, as best we can, and read the scriptures again as if it were our first time. Especially the words of Jesus, which are printed in red in some translations, so you can't miss them. Theologians and church leaders tend to make the scripture complicated, but really the Bible is not difficult to understand, if we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, which is one of the reasons He was given to us followers of Jesus according to His words , as recorded in (John 14-16).

Sincerely submitted.
Gramp