The Eternal

Driven by Eternity: Making Your Life Count Today and Forever
by John Bevere

Drawing on the principles in 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, bestselling author John Bevere reminds us that all believers will stand before Christ to receive what they have earned in life. Many of us will be shocked to learn that we spent the majority of our time on things that didn't count toward eternal rewards.

Truth be told, most people would be left destitute if they planned their futures as carelessly as they've prepared for eternity. Even believers often neglect this vital component of the Christian life: we actually give little thought to what will happen beyond the end of today.

In building our lives to be ready for that Day of Judgment and maintaining an eternal frame of reference, we will develop significant lives. Learning to keep sight of the goal will allow us to begin laboring for rewards that endure-for eternity.

Chapter 1

Teach us to make the most of our time ... and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!

Psalm 90:12, 17, NLT

The desire of most people is to live a life that counts. This is a right and godly aspiration. It was Moses' request in the above prayer. He began by asking for wisdom to make the most of time. Many things lost in life can be restored; however, time misused can never be recovered. Once the sun goes down, the day is forever gone.

His prayer concludes with, "Make our efforts successful." The exact phrase is repeated. Why repeated? Moses didn't have a problem with grammar or memory. Rather, this represents a literary style found in Hebrew writing. The repetition is a form of emphasis. In English when we want to emphasize the importance of a word or phrase, we have several methods. We can make it bold, italicize it, underscore it, use all capitals, or add an exclamation point for emphasis. These are all ways of calling the reader's attention to something that is very important. However, the Hebrew writers would write a word or phrase twice to bring emphasis, and they weren't known to overstate-they were always careful with their words. The fact that this was repeated twice in Scripture shows it is not only God's will for us to succeed, but He is passionate about it. He is the one who has placed emphasis on it.

We were created to be successful. God wants our life to be significant! It was God's desire first, not ours. He makes this known throughout Scripture. Let me just list two, "The Lord your God will make you successful in everything you do" (Deut. 30:9, NLT, emphasis mine). Notice the word everything, not some things! Again we read: "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Josh. 1:8, emphasis mine).

It takes godly wisdom to enjoy success. Scripture states, "He who loves wisdom loves his own best interest and will be a success" (Prov. 19:8,TLB).Wisdom gives us the knowledge and ability to make right choices at the opportune time. True wisdom is not given to the mentally sharp; it is for all who fear the Lord and are found in Christ. In order for you to build a life of eternal significance, you must do it through godly wisdom, and that is what this message is all about.

Wisdom breeds success, which brings enduring satisfaction and rewards, "If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you" (Prov. 9:12, NIV). Not only does the Lord desire your success, but He longs to reward you for it. Again we read, "Day by day the Lord observes the good deeds done by godly men, and gives them eternal rewards" (Ps. 37:18,TLB).

The fact that God desires us to succeed has been emphasized in a good segment of the church in recent years, as it should. However, success is many times perceived the way society defines it, rather than the way God views it. It's seen through the eyes of the temporal rather than the eternal. This creates a blur in understanding, which results in misguided pursuits. We will all one day stand before the Judge of the universe, Jesus Christ, and if we've made our life count through godly wisdom, we will be rewarded eternally.

If we've been misguided in our affairs, we will either be punished or suffer eternal loss. So it's wise to spend a few hours finding out what He is looking for.

This is the focus of this book: Making your life count not only today, but throughout eternity. The Bible is clear about how to do this. If we are to be motivated by the eternal, let's start off by getting an understanding of it.

Eternity

Read carefully these two Scriptures:

"No one can begin to understand eternity." Job 36:26, TLB

"He has put eternity in their hearts." Ecclesiastes 3:11

Eternity. What is it? How can it be defined? How can it be understood? One dictionary defines it as infinite time,1 yet another, the state of existing outside of time.2 How can one dictionary define eternity to exist within the state of time, and another as outside time? And why has it gone unquestioned? Wouldn't we question one of two science books if they define something in our world to exist in different states? Suppose one book defined a fish to be a vertebrate living in water while another reports they live in environments free of water. We would immediately conclude one to be wrong and throw it out. Yet why do we not question and throw out one of the dictionaries' definitions of eternity?

The truth is that eternity cannot be mentally comprehended. Our minds are finite, prohibited from grasping perpetual or everlasting concepts. Allow me to illustrate. Take a moment and imagine where the end of the universe is. Think of its outer limits. If you can, then what do you find at the external boundary? A wall? What's it made of ? How thick is it? Would the outer side of the wall be the exact point of the end of the universe? If so, what is beyond the outside of the wall? More space? Wouldn't this constitute a continuation of the universe? Where is the end? Can your mind take in the endlessness of the universe? Just stop and think about it.

Or what about a bottomless pit? Can you imagine falling into a hole in which you never stopped falling? You would never hit or even see the floor; you just keep falling and falling forever. Two things, not just one, short-circuit our mental reasoning here: first, no bottom; second, an endless time of falling. It's hard to comprehend, and it sounds like a concept from science fiction, yet there is such a place referenced seven times in Scripture. What about God Himself, man's Creator? Pause a moment and think of His beginning, or I should say, "No beginning." Scripture declares that He is, "from everlasting to everlasting." If He wasn't born, if no one created Him, then how did He begin to be who He is? How did He evolve? The truth is He didn't evolve into God, for the Psalmist declares, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God" (Ps. 90:2).Meditate on this a while. If you do, you'll frustrate your intellectual reasoning since, as Job wrote, "no one can begin to understand eternity."

Copyright © John Bevere, 2006

About the Author

John Bevere is passionate to see individuals deepen their intimacy with God and capture an eternal perspective. An international bestselling author with award-winning teaching materials, as well as a speaker at conferences and churches, John cohosts The Messenger TV program airing in 216 nations.