You’ve read the Bible. You’ve heard the stories a hundred times. You know your faith inside out and back to front. Maybe you’ve had doubts, but you have or are working through them. Point is: you know what Jesus did for us, and you know what He teaches in His Word. But how often do you actually live the Word He’s given us?

You know the stories…but do you believe them?

Eternity Mindset

I realize that’s a bit of an odd question (we’re on a Christian blog, after all!) but really take a moment and think about it. Then, if you don’t mind, allow me to divert to another question some people might be asking: why do I need to think about this? If you know what you believe, and you know that it’s true, then why do you need to question it?

Simply, my answer is this: because Christ is going to come again. He’s going to come soon. And most of us are living like we might not see Him at any moment. 

Christians are called to have an eternity mindset. This is the thing that gives us hope–that one day, we will live forever with God, and there will be no more suffering. But too often we don’t think about when Jesus might come. We don’t think about eternity–instead we put it in the back of our minds, only pulling it out when we need the comfort or security it offers. And it should offer that comfort and security–but we can’t think about it like a tool that we only use when it’s convenient to us. 

We’re going to see God face to face one day, and He is going to recall everything we’ve done. How many things in our lives can we honestly say that we’ve done for Him? 

Asking the question ‘why do I need to think about it’ is just us trying to hide from the truth. And trust me, that’s a perfectly human reaction. It isn’t always something that’s comfortable to think about, and so we prefer to ignore it. I totally get that. But when we try to ignore it, to push it away, we’re simply hiding from the truth, the truth that “We all die, and yet, so often we conduct our lives as if we were going to live forever.” (Rediscover Jesus by Matthew Kelly, pg. 179). 

Our eternal destiny is central to our faith. We can’t just not think about it, because then we don’t belong fully to Christ. We’re living in the world, using Christ as a safety net because we know that what He says is true, but we aren’t willing to fully accept that truth until it’s convenient to us. We like the way we’re living, and the possibility that this whole thing could be real means that we’d have to change. That we have to step out of our comfort zone and fix the things that we know need fixing, even though we prefer to think they don’t. 

Christians need to live with an eternity mindset, because this life is not the end. It is merely a passing time, a second compared to the infinity that is Heaven or Hell. Christ will come again. We will see Him face to face. This is the truth of our religion, and we can’t push it away. 

The Question

Living with an eternity mindset is dependent on one question. The question. Do you believe it? Everything that Jesus said, everything that He did. Do you believe that He came, died for our sins, and rose again? That He performed healed the sick, walked on water, and raised the dead? Do you believe that He will come again?

If you believe it, then you’re faced with a choice. You can accept it, embrace it fully despite how terrifying it might seem, or you can push it to the back of your mind and try not to think about it.

Choosing to accept will mean some discomfort. It might be scary. It might take you to places you never thought you’d go. On the other hand, choosing to push it away is easy. It’s comfortable. And yeah, a lot of people probably do it. We’re human, and that’s simply a preference of our broken nature. But I don’t want to face Jesus when He comes and not be able to look Him in the eyes because I know I didn’t live my life for Him. 

Christianity was never meant to be comfortable. Jesus’ words “Take up your cross” prove that. But it is meant to be joyful despite the circumstances and challenges. It is meant to make you exactly who God created you to be. 

It’s your turn to answer the question. It’s your turn to make the decision. Do you believe everything that Jesus said? Is it all true? Are you going to commit fully to what He said? I challenge you to decide. 

Make the Change

If you’ve chosen to fully embrace (despite the fears and discomfort) the full reality of what Jesus says, this is pretty much the next place you come. And, because I seem to have set a good track record today, I’m going to ask you one more question. You know what you believe, and you’re willing (if not ready–and trust me, that is perfectly understandable) to embrace it fully. That leads you to the final thing to ask yourself: what needs to change?

If Jesus really is real, if everything He said is true, and if He is coming again…what needs to change in our lives? 

This is the reason that thinking of the ‘is it true’ question makes us so uncomfortable. Too often, we are not living our lives entirely the way that we should. Jesus being real means that this needs to change, and we don’t usually want that to happen. We don’t like leaving our comfort zone. 

So ask God: what needs to change in your life? Is there a certain sin you need to work on getting rid of, or perhaps an area in your life where you need to put in a little more effort? Be open to whatever God brings to your mind, and trust in Him. He will never bring anything into your life that you can’t face with Him. 

I strongly recommend making sure that you really pray about this–not just once or twice, but consistently for at least a week. Being a scrupulous person myself, I don’t want anyone to read this article and then jump off the deep end because you’re suddenly convinced of incredible sin in your life. Sometimes the simple steps are the best–denying yourself in little ways, giving everything you do to the Lord each day, putting some more effort into spending time with your siblings. You are not a bad person. Some things may need changing, but don’t panic. Take a deep breath, say a prayer, and trust in the Lord. 

Do Not Fear

God loves you. He wants to be with you. His Son died on the cross so that “we will be His people, and He will be our God”. The question of eternity can be a scary one sometimes, but at the end of the day, as long as we choose to be with God, we have nothing to fear. We only have to keep asking ourselves the question. Do we believe that it’s true? And if the answer is yes, then we have to live that way. 

You are not alone. Jesus is walking by your side, and there are a hundred million people in Heaven who have walked this path before you. We’re all doing this together. Christianity is unity–we are Christ’s Body, and that means that none of us can or need to do it on our own. We can join together to walk the road to Paradise.