As all people feel they must die, each seeks immortality here on earth, that he may be had in everlasting remembrance. Some great princes and kings seek it by raising great columns of stone, and high pyramids, great churches, costly and glorious palaces, castles, etc. Soldiers hunt after praise and honor, by obtaining famous victories. The learned seek an everlasting name by writing books. With these, and such like things, people think to be immortal. But as to the true, everlasting, and incorruptible honor and eternity of God, no man thinks or looks after it. Ah! we are poor, silly, miserable people! --Martin Luther, Luther’s Table Talk—The Nature of the World, CL.
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Thanks for that, Trish. It is true, a "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord" is worth infinitely more than any honors here on earth. That is what we should be living for.
Earlier this morning I was reading in The Letters of Samuel Rutherford and came across these lines, much in the same spirit as your quote from Luther:
"You came to this life about a necessary and weighty business, to tryst with Christ concerning your precious soul, and the eternal salvation of it. This is the most necessary business ye have in this life..."
"Some few years will bring us all out in our blacks and whites before our judge. Eternity is nearer to you than you are aware of."
Craig
I've often ruminated on the great "will to live" God has instilled in each of us.
My mother, a woman of great faith, who never vocally questioned "why me", fought the good fight, only to eventually sucumb to pancreatic cancer. She fought with all her strength to hang on to this life as long as possible.
As Christians, we have eternity in heaven to look forward to and all that entails, yet we don't go looking for a bus to jump in front of as soon as we have recieved the down payment of the Holy Spirit (as referenced in Ephesians 1:13,14) to hasten our departure. This "will to live" abides alongside our faith for some purpose. For what purpose then? Why do we persist in wanting to live even though our so called "quality of life" is long gone? For Christians, I don't believe it is because our fear of the (not experienced yet) "unknown" is greater than our faith. For what then?
Soli Deo Gloria!
How is God glorified by an emaciated body clinging to life with every ounce of strength it has? I don't fully comprehend this but I do know "His strength is made perfect in our weakness". So whatever my future holds I ask for His grace and His glory. I want to be able to say as Job did, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
This instilled will to live has to be more than some evolutionary advantage, otherwise, we couldn't glory with Paul in saying, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” What a woeful existance to be in this life only for what little fulfillment you might eek out of the dash! I would say, even if I were wrong, "let me worship God in this life I have, so that I might have a modicum of purpose", otherwise I would just be an insignificant pebble in the asphalt on the evolutionary highway.
Like the song says, "Many things about tomorrow, I don't know or understand. But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know, who hold my hand!"
Mike,
I wish I could remember where, but recently I read something about how our souls having a natural desire to be united to our bodies. That is why even when we have a strong desire to be present with Jesus, we do take care to avoid disasters.
One exception to that was Madame Guyon, who would've been content to sit there and drown had her husband not pulled her out of the carriage which fell into the water.
2 Corinthians 5:1-4 seeems to be addresing our desire not to be disembodied souls, but to be clothed with our glorified resurrection bodies. That will complete our transformation into the likeness of Jesus.
I was reflecting today too, about how early in my Christian life I was so excited about having been saved from death and hell, (not to mention the great tribulation); and later on, developing Christlike character, and becoming more like Jesus began to have a more prominent place in my desires. I think that is because if we love him, we want to become what he wants us to be. We want to please him.
Craig,
2 Cor. Chapters 4-5 is one of my favorite passages.
2 Cor.4:16-18 ESV
16. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Really puts that dark cloud on the horizon in it's proper perspective.
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