Easter: If the Grave Could TalkSample

All That Matters is NOW

It’s your world. YOLO. You only live once. You love questions about your success now. What is your net worth? What have you accomplished in life? How much is your retirement account? What awards have you won? How far have you climbed up the corporate ladder? What vacations and experiences have you been able to give to your kids? All that matters is now. You spend 17-20 years in school and 40-50 years working to obtain the American dream. And then what? Well, you die. Your stuff gets left behind and people fight about who gets what.  Just like you and your family fought about grandma’s jewelry or grandpa’s tool collection. Have you ever thought about that? You spend your whole life creating an inventory of stuff you can’t take with you when you die. If the grave could talk, it would say, “All that matters is NOW.”

But then there is Jesus, the man who defeated the grave. Jesus, whose home is in heaven, chose to come to live with us on earth temporarily. It was just a stop on His journey. Jesus lived on earth for 33 years and then went to be with His Father in heaven. He wasn’t here for a long time, because this life is only temporary. The stuff we accumulate won’t matter when we get to Heaven. All that will matter is that we have a relationship with Jesus, and we did as much as we could to Elevate his name while we were on this earth. Forever matters more than now. His grave says “Put your eyes on eternity, and your heart on heaven.”

PRAY: “Jesus, it is so difficult to not think about the American dream. Help me think about you more than I think about my stuff and accomplishments. Jesus, I want you to be all that I need.”