Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:35
If you have eternal life, the bad in this world will be the closest thing to hell you will ever know. This is the worst it will ever be for you. Ahead of you lies an active life of joy and peace that will be better by far than anything you have known or could have known in this world.
But if you do not have this life, the good in this world will be the closest thing to heaven you will ever know, and it’s all slipping away. On the other side of death for you is a continued conscious existence not worthy of the name life, but rather a kind of living death.
If you do not have eternal life, you are short on time. Life is like sand slipping through your fingers. And if your life feels short, you will be tempted to self-indulgence: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32). If life is short, you better enjoy it.
Suppose for a moment that you knew for sure that you had eternal life—pleasures forevermore—you would be in a completely different position. You would be freed from the chronic fear of missing out. If something was taken away from you, you would grieve, but you would also know that your future is bright and secure.
Does it feel like time is on your side, or is it working against you? Why?
