Day4: Made to Last Forever

 Made to Last Forever

God has ... planted eternity 
in the human heart.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)

Surely God would not have created such 
a being as man to exist only for a day! 
No, no, man was made for immortality.
Abraham Lincoln


  This life is not all there is. 

  Life on earth is just the dress rehearsal before the real production. You will spend far more time on the other side of death—in eternity—than you will here. Earth is the staging area, the preschool, the tryout for your life in eternity. It is the practice workout before the actual game; the warm-up lap before the race begins. This life is preparation for the next.

  At most, you will live a hundred years on earth, but you will spend forever in eternity. Your time on earth is, as Sir Thomas Browne said, “but a small parenthesis in eternity.” You were made to last forever. 

  The Bible says, “God has . . . planted eternity in the human heart.” You have an inborn instinct that longs for immortality. This is because God designed you, in his image, to live for eternity. Even though we know everyone eventually dies, death always seems unnatural and unfair. The reason we feel we should live forever is that God wired our brains with that desire! 

  One day your heart will stop beating. That will be the end of

your body and your time on earth, but it will not be the end of

you. Your earthly body is just a temporary residence for your

spirit. The Bible calls your earthly body a “tent,” but refers to

your future body as a “house.” The Bible says, “When this tent we

live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a

house in heaven for us to live in, a home he himself has made, which

will last forever.” 2

While life on earth offers many choices, eternity offers only

two: heaven or hell. Your relationship to God on earth will

determine your relationship to him in eternity. If you learn to love

and trust God’s Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest

of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you reject his love,

forgiveness, and salvation, you will spend eternity apart from God

forever. 

C. S. Lewis said, “There are two kinds of people: those who say

to God ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right

then, have it your way.’” Tragically, many people will have to

endure eternity without God because they chose to live without

him here on earth. 

When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just

here and now, and you realize that life is just preparation for

eternity, you will begin to live

differently. You will start living in

light of eternity, and that will color

how you handle every relationship,

task, and circumstance. Suddenly

many activities, goals, and even

problems that seemed so important

will appear trivial, petty, and unworthy of your attention. The closer

you live to God, the smaller everything else appears.

What on Earth Am I Here For?

37

This life is preparation 

for the next. 

       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       

When you live in light of eternity, your values change. You use

your time and money more wisely. You place a higher premium

on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth or

achievements or even fun. Your priorities are reordered. Keeping

up with trends, fashions, and popular values just doesn’t matter as

much anymore. Paul said, “I once thought all these things were so

very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what

Christ has done.” 3

If your time on earth were all there is to your life, I would

suggest you start living it up immediately. You could forget being

good and ethical, and you wouldn’t have to worry about any

consequences of your actions. You could indulge yourself in total

self-centeredness because your actions would have no long-term

repercussions. But—and this makes

all the difference—death is not the

end of you! Death is not your

termination, but your transition

into eternity, so there are eternal

consequences to everything you do

on earth. Every act of our lives

strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity. 

The most damaging aspect of contemporary living is short-

term thinking. To make the most of your life, you must keep the

vision of eternity continually in your mind and the value of it in

your heart. There’s far more to life than just here and now! Today

is the visible tip of the iceberg. Eternity is all the rest you don’t

see underneath the surface.

What is it going to be like in eternity with God? Frankly, the

capacity of our brains cannot handle the wonder and greatness of

heaven. It would be like trying to describe the Internet to an ant.

It’s futile. Words have not been invented that could possibly

convey the experience of eternity. The Bible says, “No mere man

has ever seen, heard or even imagined what wonderful things God

has ready for those who love the Lord.” 4

The Purpose-Driven Life

38

When you live in light of

eternity, your values change. 

       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       

However, God has given us glimpses of eternity in his Word.

We know that right now God is preparing an eternal home for us.

In heaven we will be reunited with loved ones who are believers,

released from all pain and suffering, rewarded for our

faithfulness on earth, and reassigned to do work that

we will enjoy doing. We won’t lie around on clouds

with halos playing harps! We will enjoy unbroken

fellowship with God, and he will enjoy us for an

unlimited, endless forever. One day Jesus will say,

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the

kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” 5

C. S. Lewis captured the concept of eternity on the last page of

the Chronicles of Narnia, his seven-book children’s fiction series:

“For us this is the end of all the stories. . . . But for them it was

only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world . . .

had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were

beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on

earth has read, which goes on forever and in which every chapter

is better than the one before.”6

God has a purpose for your life on earth, but it doesn’t end

here. His plan involves far more than the few decades you will

spend on this planet. It’s more than “the opportunity of a

lifetime”; God offers you an opportunity beyond your lifetime.

The Bible says, “[God’s] plans endure forever; his purposes last

eternally.” 7

The only time most people think about eternity is at funerals,

and then it’s often shallow, sentimental thinking, based on

ignorance. You may feel it’s morbid to think about death, but

actually it’s unhealthy to live in denial of death and not consider

what is inevitable.8 Only a fool would go through life unprepared

for what we all know will eventually happen. You need to think

more about eternity, not less.

Just as the nine months you spent in your mother’s womb were

not an end in themselves but preparation for life, so this life is

What on Earth Am I Here For?

39

DAY FOUR:

MADE TO

LAST

FOREVER

       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com       

preparation for the next. If you have a relationship with God

through Jesus, you don’t need to fear death. It is the door to

eternity. It will be the last hour of your time on earth, but it

won’t be the last of you. Rather than being the

end of your life, it will be your birthday into

eternal life. The Bible says, “This world is not

our home; we are looking forward to our

everlasting home in heaven.” 9

Measured against eternity, our time on

earth is just a blink of an eye, but the

consequences of it will last forever. The deeds of this life

are the destiny of the next. We should be “realizing that every

moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our

eternal home in heaven with Jesus.” 10 Years ago a popular slogan

encouraged people to live each day as “the first day of the rest of

your life.” Actually, it would be wiser to live each day as if it were

the last day of your life. Matthew Henry said, “It ought to be the

business of every day to prepare for our final day.”

Day Four

Thinking about My Purpose

Point to Ponder: There is more to life than just here

and now.

Verse to Remember: “This world is fading away, along

with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you

will live forever.”  1 John 2:17 (NLT)

Question to Consider: Since I was made to last

forever, what is the one thing I should stop doing and

the one thing I should start doing today?

The Purpose-Driven Life

40

       Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji eLibrary           NamdhariElibrary@gmail.com     

댓글

댓글 쓰기

이 블로그의 인기 게시물

조경사 - 중세의 조경

*중세의 조경 (암흑기) 1. 서유럽 : 수도원정원(채소원, 약초원), 회랑식 중정    - 클로이스터 가든 : 수도자들의 명상, 대화장소, 회랑이 아치모형    - 파라디소 : 돌수반에 분수를 만들고 샘을 만듦    - 성관정원 : 매듭무늬화단(Knot) - 장미이야기에 기록이 있음 2. 이슬람 : 스페인, 이란, 인도, 무굴인도    - 무어인(스페인 남부지방) 3. 스페인    - 포르도바 : 대모스크 178 * 128, 오렌지 중정    - 알함브라 궁전(그라나다)       + 알베르카 중정 : 도금양(천인화)의 중정       + 사자의 중정 : 분수로부터 4개의 수로       + 다라하의 중정 : 부인실       + 레아의 중정(창격자의 중정) : 사이프러스 중정    - 제네랄리페 (이궁) : 높이 솟은 정원       + 수로의 정원 - 연꽃       + 사이프러스 중정 - 6개의 노단 4. 이란    - 이슬람 영향 : 물이 가장 중요한 요소    - 연못, 저수지 중심 : 대추야자, 사이프러스    - 이스파한(정원도시) : 바그 -> 건물과 정원을 하나로 지어 놓은것       + 차하르바그 : 중아에 7 Km 의 수로       + 왕의 광장 : 380 m x 140m       + 40 주궁 5. 무굴인도 (이슬람의 지배를 받았던 인도)    - 람바그 (건물+정원) -> 무굴 최고의 광대한 정원    - 타지마할 -...
자세한 내용 보기

2025학년도 3월 고3 전국연합학력평가 영어 30번 문제

  30. 다음 글의 밑줄 친 부분 중, 문맥상 낱말의 쓰임이 적절하지 않은 것은? Surely one reason that copies have lost their sense of human connection, abundance, and intimate relation is that modern technology has made copying so easy. The methods of copying available to us have never been more powerfully (abundant). This seems true even as a sense of loss has attended our ever more powerful means to (reproduce) what we care about. Walter Benjamin has famously formulated this loss as an "aura": that which is (lost) in mechanical reproduction. The aura of a work of art, he suggests, cannot be copied by mechanical technology. By around 1900, he writes, "technical reproduction had reached a standard that not only permitted it to reproduce all transmitted works of art and thus to cause the most profound change in their impact upon the public." The (ability) to copy mechanically "substituted a plurality of copies for a unique existence," Benjamin argued. In addition to transforming art and t...
자세한 내용 보기

조경사 - 고대정원

고대정원 *이집트 1. 주택정원 : 녹음, 관수, 화분 <- 대추야자, 시커모아 아메노피스3세 - 신하를 위한 분묘(분묘정원)                 방형의 높은 담, 침상지, 키오스크(간이그늘막), 포도덩굴 2. 장제신전 (신원)    합세수스여왕 3. 사자의 정원 *고대 서부아시아(메소포타미아 지역) 1. 메소포타미아 문명   *볼트(둥근지붕)와 아치의 발달로 공중정원 발달   *수렵원(길가미시(고대문헌) 기록)   *공중정원 (네부카드네자르 or 느브갓네살(성경))' 2. 페르시아    파라다이스가든 *그리스 1. 주택정원    - 프리에네 중정 (주랑식 중정, 방향성(허브)식물, 대리석)    - 아도니스정원 (비너스여신의 사랑을 받은 아이, 멧돼지에게 죽음) - 포트가든(화분정원) 2. 공중정원    - 성림 (성스러운 숲) 3. 도시계획    - 히포다무스(격자형 도시계획)    - 아고라 (건물 중심의 토론장) *고대 로마의 주택정원 -제 1중정(아트리움) -> 손님 상담, 접대 - 무열주식(기둥 없음) -제 2중정(페리스틸리움:주정원) -> 가족의 사적인 장소 - 주랑식(화훼를 정형식으로 식재) -지스터스 -> 뒤뜰, 5점 식재 *고대 로마의 빌라 - 아트리아누스장(대별장) : 아두리아누스 황제의 별장 - 포름 (대화장소) : 일반광장, 시장광장, 황제광장    + 그리스-아고라, 로마-포름
자세한 내용 보기

2025학년도 3월 고3 전국연합학력평가 영어 40번 문제

  40. 다음 글의 내용을 한 문장으로 요약하고자 한다. 빈칸 (A), (B)에 들어갈 말로 가장 적절한 것은? It may be assumed that meta algorithmics, that is, the creation of algorithms that generate other algorithms, is a human creation as well. A human programmer must have composed the first algorithm that, in turn, generates new algorithms and as such the initial programmer must be in control of the original idea. However, this is not necessarily true. Unlike humanly conceived ideas, where the author is the intellectual owner of the idea, algorithms are processes that define, describe, and implement a series of actions that in turn produce other actions. During the transfer of actions it is possible for a discrepancy to occur between the original intention and the actual result. If that happens then, by definition, the author of the algorithm is not in control of, and therefore does not own intellectually from that point on, the resulting process. Theoretically, ownership of an idea is intrinsically connected to the predi...
자세한 내용 보기

조경사 - 동양[중국의 조경]

중국조경 <은, 주> 원 - 과수원 유 - 금수를 사육 포 - 채소밭 영대 - 낮에는 조망 밤에는 은성명월 원유 - 수렵원 <진> 아방궁 난지궁, 난지 <한나라> 상림원(수렵터) 태액지원 - 봉래, 방장, 영주 [신선사상 : 장수,탈속세(연못 속의 섬)] 대 관 - 조망 각 - 정자 원광한의 정원 <삼국-위촉오> 화림원 <진> 왕희지의 난정고사 ( 곡수연을 위한 곡수거) <수> 현인궁 <당> 온천궁 이덕유의 평천산정 <송> 만세산(석가산) 창랑정(소주) 태호(태호석) 경원 <-> 금원 <금> 북해공원 <원> 사자림(소주) 만수산 - 백색의 라마탑(티벳식) *소주의 4대 명원 1. 창랑정 - 송 2. 사자림 - 원 3. 졸정원 - 명 4. 유원 - 청 <명> 졸정원(소주) <청> 건륭화원 이화원 원명원 이궁 열하 피서 산장 <명> 금원(왕이 들어가는 정원) 경원(경치 좋은 곳) 졸정원 <- "왕헌신" 이 만듬, 곡교 "경원" 관련 서적 - 문지명(), 계성(원야), 왕세정(유금릉제왕기), 육소영() <청> 원명원 (서양식 조경스타일) : 프랑스 베노아가 분수를 설계 금원 : 어화원, 건륭화원 경산, 서원(태액지) 원명원 이궁 (프랑스식 정원) 만수산 이화원 중국 조경의 특징 자연미, 인공미, 태호석을 이용한 석가산, 대비, 사의주의적
자세한 내용 보기

중국어 문법 핵심 완벽 정리

  중국어 문법 핵심 완벽 정리 중국어 문법은 한국어와 다른 점도 많지만, 명확한 규칙을 가지고 있어 핵심만 잘 파악하면 생각보다 쉽게 접근할 수 있습니다. 중국어 문법의 가장 큰 특징은 ① 어순이 매우 중요하다 는 것과 ② 동사의 형태 변화(시제, 인칭에 따른 변화)가 없다 는 점입니다. 아래에 초급부터 중급까지 가장 중요하고 필수적인 문법 사항들을 체계적으로 정리했습니다. 1. 문장의 기본 구조 (SVO) 중국어의 가장 기본적인 문장 구조는 주어(S) + 술어(V) + 목적어(O) 순서입니다. 이는 영어와 동일하여 상대적으로 이해하기 쉽습니다. 기본형: 我(wǒ) 爱(ài) 你(nǐ)。 뜻: 나는 너를 사랑해. 구조: 주어(我) + 동사(爱) + 목적어(你) 예문: 他(tā) 喝(hē) 咖啡(kāfēi)。(그는 커피를 마신다.) 我们(wǒmen) 学习(xuéxí) 汉语(hànyǔ)。(우리는 중국어를 공부한다.) 2. 주요 품사별 특징 가. 명사 특별한 형태 변화가 없으며, 복수형을 만들 때 주로 **们(men)**을 붙입니다. (단, 모든 명사에 붙이지 않고 사람을 나타내는 인칭대명사나 명사에 주로 사용합니다.) 我(wǒ) → 我们(wǒmen) (나 → 우리) 老师(lǎoshī) → 老师们(lǎoshīmen) (선생님 → 선생님들) 나. 동사 시제나 인칭에 따라 형태가 변하지 않습니다. 시간의 표현은 시간 부사 나 **조사(了, 过 등)**를 통해 나타냅니다. 昨天(zuótiān) 我 去 学校。(어제 나는 학교에 갔다.) 明天(míngtiān) 我 去 学校。(내일 나는 학교에 갈 것이다.) 다. 형용사 형용사가 단독으로 술어 역할을 할 수 있는 것이 특징입니다. 이때 보통 형용사 앞에 부사 **很(hěn)**을 붙여 문장을 자연스럽게 만듭니다. 여기서 很 은 '매우'라는 뜻보다는 문장의 균형을 맞춰주는 역할을 합니다. 她 漂亮 。(X - 어색한 표현) 她 很 漂亮(piàoliang)。(O - 그녀는 예쁘다.) 天气 很 好(hǎo)。...
자세한 내용 보기

2025학년도 3월 고3 전국연합학력평가 영어 39번 문제

  39. 글의 흐름으로 보아, 주어진 문장이 들어가기에 가장 적절한 곳을 고르시오. The rest of the time, even as individuals are trying their best to think through issues, motivational goals may bias their thought processes and bias their reasoning. Everyone likes to think of themselves as behaving in an unbiased fashion most of the time. We all view ourselves similar to the blindfolded statue of Lady Justice evaluating competing claims without bias, emotions, or motivations. And yet, overwhelming psychological research suggests that such unbiased rationality is actually a fairly elusive quality in humans. (1) Much of the time people are on automatic pilot. (2) In other words, individuals are acting without reflection more often than they are thinking carefully and deliberately. (3) Ziva Kunda, who coined the term "motivated reasoning" to describe this phenomenon, explained that although individuals try to make well-thought-out decisions, use available evidence, and look at both sides of an issue, the process ...
자세한 내용 보기

2025학년도 3월 고3 전국연합학력평가 영어 34번 문제

34. 다음 빈칸에 들어갈 말로 가장 적절한 것은? In both the arts and the sciences, an aesthetics of simplicity facilitates the precise communication of messages. Both are also fairly systematic. Although many people believe that art is by definition wild and intuitive, while only science is methodologically disciplined, there is a great deal of evidence including from artists talking about their own practices to suggest that art is often created methodically and systematically, and that frameworks and forms permit creativity to flow. Instead of being liberating, freedom without limits is almost paralysing, because without frameworks we end up in a vacuum in which our actions generate no response. As the Danish poet and filmmaker Jørgen Leth has put it many times, 'the rules of the game are a prerequisite for artistic freedom. They provide a solid form or structure that enables the artist to make use of 'the gifts of chance' (to use Leth's expression), and in which a part of the world can ...
자세한 내용 보기

2025학년도 3월 고3 전국연합학력평가 영어 31번 문제

  31. 다음 빈칸에 들어갈 말로 가장 적절한 것을 고르시오. Life is insecure and human well-being is fragile. If we are hongst with ourselves, we realize that, despite our best efforts, we often cannot control the vicissitudes of human existence. We go through life in fear and trembling, fearing what may happen, while hoping for the best. Most of us get anxious in the face of an indeterminate or ambiguous situation. We don't handle uncertainty very well. We are easily tempted to settle for quick "solutions," in order to eliminate our anxiety and doubt, even though these quick fixes may not, in the long run, actually be adequate solutions. It is natural, therefore, and even somewhat necessary, for us to seek ______________ in a sea of change and indeterminacy. We want a fixed star to guide us on our journey through hazardous waters. If only we could have knowledge of what is fixed, unchanging, and ultimately reliable, then, we assume, that would be knowledge most worth having. * vicissitude: 우여곡절...
자세한 내용 보기

TOEIC 7-8

With only an old wooden boat and a single oar , he managed to cross the foggy river, though the current was stronger than expected. 낡은 나무 보트와 한 자루의 노만으로 그는 강한 물살에도 불구하고 안개 낀 강을 건널 수 있었다. The accountant , who had worked tirelessly through the night, finally uncovered discrepancies in the company’s financial records, which others had overlooked. 밤새 지치지 않고 일하던 회계사는 다른 이들이 놓쳤던 회사 재무 기록의 불일치를 마침내 발견했다. After years of wear and cracks, the city decided to repave the main street, which had been the subject of many complaints from residents. 수년간의 마모와 균열 끝에, 도시는 주민들의 많은 불만의 대상이었던 대로를 다시 포장하기로 결정했다. The chairman will designate a new project leader, who will oversee all upcoming initiatives for the year. 회장은 올해 진행될 모든 사업을 감독할 새로운 프로젝트 리더를 지명할 것이다. The guard looked suspicious of the stranger, whose nervous glances and hurried steps gave away a hidden motive. 경비원은 낯선 사람의 초조한 눈빛과 서두르는 발걸음에서 숨겨진 의도를 눈치채고 의심스러운 눈빛을 보냈다. This luxury lounge is reserved exclusively for members, who are ...
자세한 내용 보기