2 Corinthians 4:18; Look at Things Eternal
2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Our value system needs to be renewed so that it will reflect the will of God as God’s children. True reality is in the eternal but the illusion of trusting the things temporal is very real. We need to renew our minds so that our affections are set on the eternal rather than the temporal.
The Indian preacher of the last century Sadhu Sundar Singh explains well when he says “In the human heart there is a deep and natural craving which can be satisfied nowhere except in God and which can be consummated only in heaven after a period of probation and preparation in this world. But man, disdaining God and the judgment day, seeks satisfaction in this world and its things, and this effort on his part ends in sheer hopelessness and destruction.”
He gave the story of two wood-cutters who because of greed coveted two golden balls that they picked up in the jungle. This resulted in one man hacking the other to death and the other poisoning his killer. What a tragedy. At the graveside of the two men, an old man who related their story said, “I wish the wood-cutters had acted on my advice and then they would have been saved from this disastrous end. Verily, those who put their hearts on the gold and silver of this world perish. So, it is essential for us all that, during our sojourn here on earth, we should put away all the things of this world and love God wholeheartedly, because in His love we are safe.”
There will be gold balls dangling before you if they would renounce their faith in Christ. This is not a good prospect. Let us esteem the eternal more than the temporal. Let us be warned to resist every temptation that comes their way to derail us from obeying the laws of God. If we are derailed, we will suffer loss. May the Lord help us to esteem the eternal, our God and His promises, reject the temporal, the lust the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Amen.