A Thankful Heart for Eternal Life
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.
John 10:28-30
Most people think very little about their eternal life because they are busy living this life. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14) This life is very short in comparison to our eternal life, which begins after our last breath. The more we are eternally minded, the more thankful we will be, and the more we see the eternal consequences of our thoughts, words, and actions.
The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:7) Our temporary worldly pleasures will pass away, but if we do the will of God we will live forever in Heaven. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) If we live by the world’s standards, we may have a great physical life, but Satan’s goal is to pull us away from God and capture us for eternity in his dark domain.
If we are thankful for our promise of eternal life and we live the will of God, then we will have life to the full. The Lord promises to fulfill our needs and feeds our soul with Heaven through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Christians are filled with love, peace, and joy which satisfy their souls and makes them content in life. And knowing this life is temporary and Heaven is our home, there is less worry because we know everything is temporary.
The more we understand Heaven, the more motivated we are to get there. In Heaven, we will have a new younger perfect body just as Jesus did after he arose from the grave. We will be in the presence of the Father and the Son and we will experience perfect love, perfect peace, and perfect joy with complete contentment and satisfaction. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3) Heaven would not be Heaven without the presence of the Father and the Son. God will restore Heaven and earth as it was before sin entered the world, and we will have a perfect fulfilling life on the new earth where sinful temptations will never exist.
Today, be thankful for your eternal home with the Father and the Son, and visualize how perfect the new heaven and earth will be. Imagine living with perfect love, peace, joy, and being perfectly content and never bored. No matter how we view Heaven it will better than we can ever imagine.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be thankful for my eternal home with you. Guide me to be eternally motivated and to see this world as a temporary dwelling, living for your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen