One of my students came to me in tears yesterday. She had gotten a B on an exam, and was very, very upset. In Korea, grades are everything and university entrance is extremely competitive, and a low grade on a single exam could be the difference between gaining admittance to a top university or not.
Nevertheless, I couldn't help but think that her worries were slightly...well, silly. Now, don't get me wrong, I value good grades just as much as the next person - probably more than the average individual, actually - but to get completely stressed out about a single high school exam? It just seemed a little frivolous to me, like her priorities were a bit out of whack.
But then again, don't we all do that? We live our lives completely disconnected from eternity, as if the present life and the afterlife are two separate beings, that cannot affect each other. We focus all of our energies on getting a nice car, a pleasant friendships, a comfortable life...all the while, never even realizing that our eternity - as well as the eternity of everyone around us - hangs in the balance.
Most of us are given 70-80 years on this earth - which, in itself, is not very long. And we are not even promised that. Many people's lives are snatched away with astonishing and unexpected rapidity. And then, after our short time in this world, we have an eternity in the next. Doesn't that make you want to go out and win people to Christ? To glorify Him, to work for His kingdom, to make His name known? Don't put it off until tomorrow. You don't know if you'll even be around tomorrow. Time is short. Life is unpredictable. Don't put off living for the Lord until tomorrow. Live with urgency.
Nevertheless, I couldn't help but think that her worries were slightly...well, silly. Now, don't get me wrong, I value good grades just as much as the next person - probably more than the average individual, actually - but to get completely stressed out about a single high school exam? It just seemed a little frivolous to me, like her priorities were a bit out of whack.
But then again, don't we all do that? We live our lives completely disconnected from eternity, as if the present life and the afterlife are two separate beings, that cannot affect each other. We focus all of our energies on getting a nice car, a pleasant friendships, a comfortable life...all the while, never even realizing that our eternity - as well as the eternity of everyone around us - hangs in the balance.
Most of us are given 70-80 years on this earth - which, in itself, is not very long. And we are not even promised that. Many people's lives are snatched away with astonishing and unexpected rapidity. And then, after our short time in this world, we have an eternity in the next. Doesn't that make you want to go out and win people to Christ? To glorify Him, to work for His kingdom, to make His name known? Don't put it off until tomorrow. You don't know if you'll even be around tomorrow. Time is short. Life is unpredictable. Don't put off living for the Lord until tomorrow. Live with urgency.
Luke 16:19-31
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
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