Only What’s Done for Christ Will Last!

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Abstract

"d7a6">If they worked to amass a fortune in money, it’s gone. If they wanted power and respect from other people, that’s gone. If they put everything they had into achieving military glory, it has passed away. Everything the people who lived in that era invested their lives into getting for themselves, or even for their families, has flown away with the years. The only riches that still belong to them are those registered in heaven.</p><p id="0c7b">And yet, it all seemed so real and urgent to them at the time. Just as real and urgent as the things we struggle to attain for ourselves today.</p><p id="6047">To help me keep things in proper perspective when I start getting all wrapped up in trying to get — or keep — something that seems so very important to me right now, I ask myself this question:</p><p id="7909" type="7">How much will this matter to me 100 years from today?</p><p id="f6b3">When I was in elementary school (a long time ago!) my best friend was someone who has since become a world-famous movie star. He now has all the wealth and fame anyone could wish for. But whenever I’m tempted to be just a tiny bit envious, I think about that same question. What will all that wealth and fame matter 100 years from today?</p><p id="dba5">I’m so glad I learned that little couplet early in my life. It’s one that so many people today, especially those who are putting their all into trying to make it to the top of some mountain of worldly prosperity or prestige, desperately need to hear and believe.</p><h2 id="9dfb">“Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”</h2><div id="dd97" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-ibm-helped-me-learn-to-share-the-gospel-f4df4ac3125e"> <div> <div>

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   <h2>How IBM Helped Me Learn to Share the Gospel</h2>
            <div><h3>My interview with IBM changed my life in more ways than one</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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    </div><div id="c17b" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://readmedium.com/why-you-need-to-be-unfair-to-yourself-3d9e2def2cfd">
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            <h2>Why You Need to Be Unfair to Yourself</h2>
            <div><h3>Because I’m selfish, I’m likely to unconsciously favor myself even when I’m trying to be fair</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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    </div><figure id="4c60"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*nwfCGffplYJcsY4ZKum6dQ.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="5a19"><b>This story is published in <a href="https://medium.com/koinonia">Koinonia</a> — stories by Christians to encourage, entertain, and empower you in your faith, food, fitness, family, and fun.</b></p><p id="8c4f">We are a <a href="https://www.smedian.com/p/5c646f03cac397ec0012c9d2/dashboard">Smedian Publication</a>. Find out <a href="https://medium.com/koinonia/about">about us</a> and how to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpRfb7RURrQvXR1x48dS1c2bQBuiJ3H8lrsHP8V0Wg1qetNQ/viewform">write for us</a>.</p></article></body>

Will my achievements stand the test of eternity?

As a youngster attending Bible Camp, I learned a little couplet that has stayed with me all these years:

Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Although not expressed in biblical language, it seems to me that this little saying embodies a very important biblical idea. Here’s how the Bible says it:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19–20, NKJV)

I am a student of the U.S. Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. I love reading about the people who lived through that conflict, and especially what they say about themselves in letters and diaries. I like getting to know them as individuals.

But there’s one thing I’m always aware of when I project my imagination back into Civil War times: not one of the people who were alive during that war is alive today. And everything they strove to get for themselves in this world, no matter how much of their time, energy, strength, and affection they put into getting it, is gone.

If they worked to amass a fortune in money, it’s gone. If they wanted power and respect from other people, that’s gone. If they put everything they had into achieving military glory, it has passed away. Everything the people who lived in that era invested their lives into getting for themselves, or even for their families, has flown away with the years. The only riches that still belong to them are those registered in heaven.

And yet, it all seemed so real and urgent to them at the time. Just as real and urgent as the things we struggle to attain for ourselves today.

To help me keep things in proper perspective when I start getting all wrapped up in trying to get — or keep — something that seems so very important to me right now, I ask myself this question:

How much will this matter to me 100 years from today?

When I was in elementary school (a long time ago!) my best friend was someone who has since become a world-famous movie star. He now has all the wealth and fame anyone could wish for. But whenever I’m tempted to be just a tiny bit envious, I think about that same question. What will all that wealth and fame matter 100 years from today?

I’m so glad I learned that little couplet early in my life. It’s one that so many people today, especially those who are putting their all into trying to make it to the top of some mountain of worldly prosperity or prestige, desperately need to hear and believe.