Nothing we do in this life, nothing we accomplish, nothing we accumulate, nothing we find success in, no amount of money earned and no accolades received, none of this makes any difference if we don’t take eternity into account in all that we do. I am an avid reader of biographies. The stories of amazing men and women who have changed the course of world history. People who did amazing things and sometimes horrible things. In many cases, these individuals have dozens and dozens of volumes written about their lives. But, in most cases there is no record of these individuals in heaven. No matter what they pulled off in this life, there is no life with God in the next. They did not live in light of eternity. 

CS Lewis writes this. “‘If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God, it will make in the end no difference what you have chosen instead.’ Those are hard words to take. Will it really make no difference whether it was women or patriotism, cocaine or art, whisky or a seat in the Cabinet, money or science? Well, surely no difference that matters. We shall have missed the end for which we are formed and rejected the only thing that satisfies. Does it matter to a man dying in a desert, by which choice of route he missed the only well? It is a remarkable fact that on this subject Heaven and HeIl speak with one voice. The tempter tells me, ‘Take care. Think how much this good resolve, the acceptance of this Grace, is going to cost.’ But Our Lord equally tells us to count the cost. Even in human affairs great importance is attached to the agreement of those whose testimony hardly ever agrees. Here is, more. Between them it would seem to be pretty clear that paddling is of little consequence. What matters, what Heaven desires and Hell fears, is precisely that further step; out of our depth, out of our own control.”

Here is a truth to consider. We vastly overestimate the value of our human existence and vastly underestimate the value of our coming eternal existence. The only way to get the equation right and the only way to ensure that what we do on this side of eternity is to live our lives with our eyes on eternity. Again as CS Lewis wrote,  “Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.

In Hebrews 11 we have this pantheon of heroes of the faith. But there is one section that is really important to understand. It is found in verses 13-16. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

They did what they did and followed God where He led with their eyes on eternity. This was Jesus as well who “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  He went to the cross with His eyes on heaven and his divine mission to save a people" (Hebrews 12:2). His motivation to do what He did was an eternal heavenly perspective. Likewise Paul wrote, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Paul endured amazing hardships for the sake of pleasing His Savior and knowing that it would all be worth it when He met Jesus face to face. 

Living with our eyes on eternity changes the picture on everything we do. It makes decisions on priorities, relationships, service, money, raising our kids, or living out our marriages in light of an eternal perspective. Some might say, “We need to live in the here and now, not in the future.” They are correct. But to be fully al