That’s Not All There Is

Saturday, August 10, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”

2 Peter 3:10–12

Mel Blanc had already been a successful voice talent for more than a decade when he took on the role of Bugs Bunny in the 1940 cartoon A Wild Hare. The new character made him one of the most famous people in America even though almost no one knew what he looked like. For more than sixty years Mel Blanc brought a variety of characters to life. At his request, his tombstone was inscribed with the catchphrase he popularized: “That’s all folks.”

In reality, however, death is not the end. The things of the world will one day be utterly destroyed. No fortune, inheritance, estate or achievement will survive. But there are things that will last—the things which are eternal.  Al Smith wrote:

With eternity’s values in view, Lord,
With eternity’s values in view;
May I do each day’s work for Jesus,
With eternity’s values in view.

The things to which we devote our lives are determined by the things which we value. There is a reason why the two great commands Jesus gave to summarize the entire law start not with our actions, but with our hearts. When we love the things of God, the eternal things, we will not easily be swayed by the temptations of the world. We will spend our precious moments on the eternal.

Today's Growth Principle: 

Rather than living today only for this life, live today with eternity’s values in view.