A couple of days ago a friend said she was on a journey through life and it did not matter where she ended up, so long as she enjoyed the journey. I challenged her thinking a bit and asked her to consider if that was really true. Did it really not matter where she ended up? After some thoughtful conversation, she agreed that it did matter after all.
The whole concept of life as a journey instead of a destination has become popular in our culture. The sentiment is on bumper stickers. People post it as their status on Facebook. Whole books have been written about it. The concept conjures up a carefree life that one just enjoys without having to worry about the consequences that must come at the end of the journey. While that might be a cool concept to fantasize about, it is just not reality.
Reality is that life does have a destination. It has both an earthly destination (purpose, point, reason for existence) and it has an eternal destination. Rick Warren's bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life became a best seller precisely because people have grown weary of traveling around in emotional, relational and spiritual circles without getting anywhere. Deep inside people need to have a purpose for living. While a Sunday afternoon drive through the country without any particular destination might be fun once in a while, a person cannot live their entire life that way. A person needs goals to accomplish, tasks to complete and dreams to fulfill in order to be truly happy. Though life should be an exciting journey, for it to have value, it also must have a destination or purpose.
Just as people need to have a purpose for living which leads them to some destination that has meaning and value, people also need to realize that there is more to this universe than our current existence. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us that "it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment." Every person will eventually die. After death, each person will stand before God to be judged. Jesus told us in Matthew 8:11-12 that "many will come from east and west, and recline at the table in the kingdom of heaven. But the followers of the Kingdom of Darkness will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Each of us has an eternal destination, heaven or hell. We may not like that truth. We may not want to think about that truth. We can deny that truth. But it is still true and one day each of us will have to face the reality of that truth. Our eternal destination is very important. We can know that our eternal destination is heaven if we will repent of our sins (Acts 3:19) and call upon the name of Jesus for salvation (Romans 10:13).
Life may be a journey, but it also is a destination. Where will our destination be in this life? Where will it be in eternity?
Watch this video on YouTube to think more about this subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4GVVJvXMa0
This is very Good Pastor Terry
ReplyDeleteAnother good one, Terry. Thanks for sending it to me.
ReplyDeleteI had difficulty leaving a commenton the video page, but I think the concept is great.
ReplyDeletei think it was short and to the point. did a nice job.
ReplyDelete