Paul's Ministry ManualSample

  

Seeing the Big Picture

A century ago, George Bernard Shaw was spending a good part of his time attacking Christianity and other faiths. Near the end of his life he wrote, "The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith."

The Apostle Paul had not only found his faith, he had found a whole new perspective. He had come to a place in his life where he could write, “We are confident and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). In the context of that statement, he contrasts this age and the coming age as sharply as he does anywhere (verses 1-10).

Here is how he characterizes the contrast. At present, we live in an earthly tent, but when it is destroyed, “we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (v. 1). Our present state makes us feel naked, but in that day we will be clothed (2-3). Now we are mortal, subject to death, but then our mortality will be “swallowed up by life” (4).

In light of all this, the apostle writes, “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (6-7). Is this how you think? Would you prefer to be in heaven than on earth, or do you think in terms of goals you still need to pursue in this life?

To live with our eyes on the coming age is to live by faith (6-7). And it is to “make it our goal to please the Lord, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (9-10). We are to live by faith, and our goal is to please the Lord.

We need to adopt this attitude. We need to live with eternity’s values in view and live in the vast landscape of eternity rather than the narrow room of this time.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see the big picture. Help me to live with eternity’s values in view rather than just for the small goals of this age. May my goal be to please You in every aspect of my life.