A number of things stuck out to me in Rich’s sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, but the one I’d like to reflect on is this: How do we live our lives like the resurrection is real?
In this case Rich is talking about more than Christ’s resurrection and defeat of death and sin, he means our eventual resurrection at the time of Christ’s return. This is the hope for eternal life that we all have, not just floating up in the clouds as ethereal ghosts, but real tangible beings.
But more to the point, though our time on Earth seems short, we in fact have an eternity with God, so why don’t we live that way?
I could go on at length about the things that bother me, the people who speak for conservatism and Christian values, but who ignore the needs of the poor and the oppressed. There are even some who actively seek to persecute others, to enact God’s judgment rather than to spread God’s love. They treat money like it’s something they’ve earned and have a right to hold on to. They treat life like it’s limited and so they have to hang on to everything they can.
It’s easy to attack others, the people I think misrepresent Christianity, and don’t live the way they should, but how am I living?
I am selfish of my time, if not my money. I spend what I have on personal indulgences more often than what other people need. I worry already about the day I might pass away and the things I will leave unfinished, the books I have not yet written. I eat more than I should, I spend more than I ought, and I don’t let friends in nearly enough.
This is not to say that I’m not trying. I try to use writing to convey ideas to people, to get them to think. I try to use time to build people up, support them through the things they’re going through, and I try to give freely when someone comes to me with a need.
But more often than not, I am thinking more about how to avoid dying than I am trying to live with eternity in mind. I want to find more ways where I can dive in without looking, to find ways that I can help the church and our community, and to spread God’s love and hope. Right now that involves praying for God to give me insight, and trying to put myself into more situations where I don’t normally feel comfortable.
My time this go around on Earth may be short, but it’s just the prologue to the rest of the story. It’s the set up, the introduction, the establishment of things to come. My life as I understand it now, as I experience it through imperfect flesh, is only just beginning.
How have you lived eternally rather than finitely?
Going Deeper 
Reblogged this on [BTW] : Ben Trube, Writer and commented:
A few thoughts on what it’s like to live with eternity and mind, and the things we might still need to work on.