Today MattersSample

Eternity Matters

Over the past six days, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about how to make today matter by developing habits and disciplines that make the most of our time, so we can make the most of our lives.

But truthfully, we cannot make the most of our lives on our own. We all need help.

We’ve already talked about the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ, but it’s easy to glance over that statement. If you’re a Christian, you might look past it because you already understand. But if you’re not a Christian, you might look past it because it doesn’t fit your picture of who God is.

Maybe your picture of God is a wall—you are separated from God. He’s not interested in your life, or in what happens to you. The reasons for that separation might vary, but the outcome is still the same: you and God just can’t connect. It’s impossible.

Or maybe your picture of God is a ladder—if you climb high enough, you can reach God. Good works, from charity to kindness, add up in your life like points on a scoreboard. The more you do good, the higher you climb. It makes sense—until you make a mistake and you feel like you drop a rung. Or worse yet, plummet all the way down.

There’s also the possibility that your picture of God involves a garbage can…and that garbage can is you. Your life is hopelessly messed up. You make mistake after mistake. You feel like no matter how hard you try, how much you attempt to change things, you keep repeating the same bad decisions. You feel like you are just too broken, have too much junk, for God to ever care about you.

Or maybe you have a combination of all three.

The reality is that when we think of God, we can think of a door. That door is metaphorically positioned in our heart, and it’s the avenue to a full relationship with God Himself. The door makes sense of every other picture people have about God but frames them in the proper perspective.

Like the wall, there’s still separation from God because of the reality of sin, but Jesus stands on the other side of that door, gently knocking.

Like the ladder, there’s still something we have to do in response to the knock of Jesus—we must open the door—but there’s nothing else we need to do to receive His offer of a relationship.

And as for the garbage can, once we invite Jesus into our lives, He makes us a new creation, forgetting our past junk and promising to walk beside us forever.

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Right now, you can open the door to Jesus. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:9 that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is God’s Son and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we WILL be saved.

Today matters because tomorrow—and eternity—is impacted by the choices you make. Today, you can choose to say yes to Jesus and open the door of your heart to Him.

To learn more about making today matter, you can read the book that inspired this plan, John C. Maxwell's Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success .