“Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life—
the food which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”
—John 6:27
Have you ever considered that everything you and I can see and touch is ultimately going to pass away? We live in a perishable world; it is all subject to decay and destruction. That’s a sobering thought! However, the things of heaven are imperishable; they will last forever! And we can store up our true treasure in heaven.
Jesus said, Jesus said, “But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20). Do you want to be rich in the next world, the real world, the world that will last forever? If so, you need to be actively converterlating the perishable items of this world into the imperishable treasures of the world to come.
Converterlators understand that we all live in a time bubble that can pop in this perishing world at any time. When that happens we will find ourselves in a totally different paradigm. The wise person realizes that in the end, all of our earthly time, talent, and treasure is going to perish. The Apostle Paul made this point clear when he said, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7). Think of it, everything we know and love about this world will eventually be gone!
This eternal focus was at the core of Paul’s teaching. He set his eyes and his heart on the eternal because he knew that the world as we know it is temporary and wasting away. Paul’s eyes were fixed on eternity, and he conducted his life accordingly.
Each one of us has to make a choice: Do we want to enjoy life within the Lord’s framework so our lives can echo into eternity, or are we going to live our lives dedicated to the temporary values of this perishing world?
As we study the Bible, we discover we are in the middle of two totally different value systems that are striving to win our commitment and loyalty. The first is what we call the perishable world system, and the second is the imperishable eternal realm. Paul tells us,
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” —1 Timothy 6:17–19
The world system is doing everything it can to consume all of our temporary time, talent, and treasure, enticing us to invest all of them into stuff, activity, and experiences that in the end of life will have no eternal value. For the most part, the world system is held together by force, greed, and power. It caters to developing a self-centered life, a self-first mindset; it is bent on finding significance in power, fame, status, and accumulation of wealth. A wrong emphasis on these things often destroys the lives of people and their loved ones.
Self, fame, status, personal wealth: these often become idols in the lives of many people, even those who profess to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. These things take the place that God should have in our lives. In many instances the world system emphasizes striving to get more for doing less. Get as much stuff as you can so you can retire from work, and have a life of ease doing what you want to do when you want to do it. It does everything it can to keep us from thinking about the eternal aspect of life.
On the other hand we have the value system of the heavenly realm revealed to us by the person of Jesus Christ emphasizing a life of love, giving, and serving. This involves work that leads to glorifying God, building treasure
