“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). “I counted to infinity and back; what took so long?” That was what my youngest son said after he had to wait on me for about 10 minutes before he could get on the computer and play one of his learning games. I doubt very seriously that he understands the idea of infinity, except to say that it means a long time. We hear folks use the word or synonym this way all of the time. “That took an eternity to do!” “It’s been an eternity since I’ve seen you.”
Yet, God has a whole different idea in mind. Eternity in the Bible carries several ideas, but two stand out as they are relative to man. First, it is what is next. Second, it is timeless, never-ending existence. For each and all of us, this eternity is coming, whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not. Eternity is the next and final journey of our existence. How do we know? Because eternity does not end! There is no “next” in the eternal scheme of things.
Knowing this to be so, God has made man aware of this by virtue of creation. From birth, the notion of eternity is real to us; we know there is more than this and must be taught otherwise to deny it. God wants it that way. Yet, He has also kept us at arm’s length so that we must choose to believe in Him, love Him and serve Him. In this day, choose eternal life with the Father, by choosing to live for Him today.
