This Moment Is NOT Everything

Perhaps you’ve been encouraged to take advantage of your time because of hearing the mantra, “This moment is everything.” Maybe you have been captured by the Latin phrase, “Carpe Diem,” (seize the day), made famous by one of the worst movies ever produced. On the good side, each of these encourages us not to pass up opportunities, to be aware of not spending energy on waiting and planning for better things. On the bad side, we focus so much on momentary matters that we fail to see where the moment may be taking us.

Longing for Eternity

A wise king from an ancient era said that eternity resides in our hearts. King Solomon wrote that over 3,000 years ago in Ecclesiastes 3:11. Think about it. Few of us want our lives to end. We know they will but something deep within us suspects that something is wrong when life is consumed by death. Intuitively we prefer life to continue, and the king said that God put that notion within us. Might there be a brighter end to this life than our lives ending here?

Young people generally spend more time focusing on the moment, trying to satisfy dreams of fame and fortune or just coasting along with the currents of society. Yet the specter of ending the pursuit of these things looms in the shadows, a certainty we often refuse to face.

End Times

As do several authors of the New Testament, Peter reminds his readers that time itself along with this present world will cease to exist. In fact, he says it will end with a loud noise and fire. Such an apocalyptic nightmare must be seen in the context of what Peter says next, “We wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells,” (2 Peter 3:13).

How does the “moment” prepare us for the end? What philosophy of life promises a new heaven and earth? The strict materialism of some scientists, college educators, and elite thinkers has no promise of life continuing. In fact, many of those people reject religion as a means of telling us anything. Yet an end comes to each one of us; we will die. Benjamin Franklin coined the statement, “In this world nothing is certain except death and taxes.”

A Scenario of Hope

For Peter the fear of judgment and annihilation is transformed into a scenario of hope, hope that life will continue, hope that the place “where righteousness dwells” is the place of a new heaven and earth. I offer no scientific proof that such a place exists. As Peter does, I offer his testimony about Christ and the testimony of the prophets. Along with those things, Christianity appeals to our intuitive sense of eternity. John’s testimony concludes with his desire for all to obtain life, John 20:30-31.

Eternal life is one of the greatest reasons to believe in Christianity. It appeals to our intuitive desire for life. Though we have to overcome our fear of and resistance to its demands and morality, we must see those as steps along a path beyond the mere moments of life. This moment is not everything. Eternity beckons.