An appetite for the eternal.
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 10-11 NKJV
Having eternity in your heart means:
• Nothing on the earth can satisfy or console me.
• I will not look for anything on the earth to do for me what only
God can do for me.
If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis said there are two kinds of longings:
» Consolable longings – natural tegins, Relief, Relatenships
» Inconsolable longings —
“Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, Because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, Yet they have spoken lies against Me. They did not cry out to Me with their heart When they wailed upon their beds. “They assemble together for grain and new wine, They rebel against Me;”
Hosea 7:13-14 NKJV
Crying from our bed means:
crying because of the CONSEQUENCES of our sin but not the condition of our heart. Indulging in sin didn’t produce the satisfaction.
Crying from from the heart means: crying to God for relationship be cause we realize by our sun we’ve put distance in that relationship and he is the greatest object
Levels of love :
I love me for my sake.
I love God for my sake
I love God for his sake
I love me for Gods sake.
“Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name; And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake!”
Psalms 79:9 NKJV
The best thing you can give God and others is a healthy you.
“For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalms 90:4, 10, 12 NKJV
This is the shortest thing we ever do.
In eternity our life on earth will be like a day in the second grade, we will know that we were there but it will pale in comparison to where we are now.
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
II Timothy 4:6-8 NKJV