Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Beach (07/04/05)
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TITLE: A Grain Of Sand Or A Beach | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
07/06/05 -
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I see the smallest grain of sand to be analogous to the time we have here on earth in comparison to the timelessness of Eternity that can be analogous to the quantity of sand of an entire beach.
Yet, even for many who claim to Christians, the day-to-day focus is on the grain of sand and not on the beach. Much of our resources are spent on all the things that are to be left behind when we depart.
Family, careers, hobbies, and entertainment all have their purpose and place in life, but none of these determine the location or the quality of our spiritual destiny.
Furthermore, such things can be of great distraction from what spirituality is really all about (Luke 8:14/Luke 14:26)!
We are only here for a very brief time, but we will spend all of eternity somewhere else. It would seem that common sense would tell us to focus on the eternal rather than the temporal issues, but such things can only be “spiritually discerned (1Cor.2: 14).”
This is not to imply that life here on earth has no meaning or eternal significance. In fact, it is the decisions we make while here on Earth that determines where and how we will spend all of Eternity.
There are decisions that every soul who reaches the age of moral accountability must make during the course of his/her lifetime. God grants all of us the freedom to choose, but He does not grant us freedom from having to make choices.
Neutrality does not exist in the spiritual realm. We are either “sons of the kingdom or we sons of the evil one (Matt. 13: 38 NIV)”. It is how we ultimately respond to the presentation of the Gospel that determines whose son or daughter we are, both now and for all of Eternity.
One decision that everyone must make is what he/she is going to do with the Gospel.
Those who believe it are “born again (John 3: 3NIV)” and are destined for Heaven while those who reject it are destined for what the Bible calls the “lake of fire (Rev. 20:15 NIV).
Another decision that takes place here on Earth that has eternal significance is to either to accept or to reject the call to the post-salvation spiritual life.
Because it is a POST-salvation spiritual life, this call is only made to born again believers. A person can be religious, but he cannot be spiritual until he has been born again (Rom.8: 7).
Salvation cannot be lost. Such teachings are contrary to the Word of God and are in the final analysis a blasphemous attack on the character, and nature of God and on the Work that He accomplished while on the cross. To this extent, even Christians, by attacking the Doctrine of Eternal Security, can be “enemies of the cross (Phil.3: 18 NIV).”
Although salvation cannot be lost, certain other rewards can be lost for failing to execute the post-salvation spiritual life (1Cor.3: 15).
Eternal life is NOT something that begins in Heaven when this life is over. Eternal life begins the day of our salvation when we are born again and continues on into Eternity. It is the spiritual and eternal perspective that gives the day-to-day events of our earthly life true meaning and purpose.
Every day we have the opportunity to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2Peter 3: 18) as we are given the opportunity to develop and apply “the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:16 NIV” to the events and circumstances of our daily lives.
It is our daily decisions that determine the rewards and thus the quality of our Heavenly life to come when we either receive and enjoy or lose and are denied all that could have been ours for all of Eternity (1Cor.3: 15).
Technically, the beach analogy falls short of the realities of eternity in that the sand of natural beaches, as vast as they may be, still has a limited quantity, whereas the timelessness of Eternity can never be depleted.
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R) Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All Rights reserved.
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God bless, littlelight
Your article bears such an important message. Well done.