To Live is Christ — even in the ordinary

A big challenge of the Christian life is balancing or reconciling the reality of eternity with the nitty-gritty of daily life. I am going to live forever. What does it matter that the floors get swept or the car gets washed? In light of forever, how important is most of right now?

Since we tend to polarize such issues, people take one of two options. I could tie into life with the attitude that we are only here once and for a short time, so make the best of it. Grab what I can and enjoy it because I cannot take it with me. Or I could neglect all but the essentials like brushing my teeth, and spend my days preaching and teaching others about God, perhaps losing my family and gaining a yard full of weeds in the process.

As an ordinary person with ordinary responsibilities, I’m aware that some of what I do is temporary. It has value for the moment, but no eternal impact. The things that I possess will not go into glory with me, none of my books, none of the quilts that I make, nothing from my computer files will last forever. While some of it could be enjoyed by those after me, eventually all of it will perish.

What is eternal? The human soul lasts, with its eternal location determined by each individual’s relationship (or lack of it) with Jesus Christ. Things done in the power of Christ will have some sort of eternal reward too. That may indicate that those actions will live on.

Words could be included. God’s Word lasts forever. If I speak in the name of the Lord and by His enabling power, will my words have some sort of eternal value too? The passage I am reading talks about the things that abide forever.

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22–25)

From these verses, it seems to me that anyone who has been reborn through the eternal Word of God has the potential to love others with a pure heart. Although my flesh is like grass as are the successes I might experience in this life, that kind of love contrasts the temporary stuff. That is, I may accomplish great things, become famous, have the respect of my peers, or gain many possessions. Nevertheless, these are the “glory of man” and will wither. However, the Word of God endures forever and so does the love of God.

My question is: What if that love of God is expressed through my life? It seems safe to assume that no matter the vessel, God’s love is an eternal thing. It will endure when all else fades away.

This is where the daily things of life come in. All those things that seem temporary and without eternal value can be infused with that which lasts for eternity. In other words, when I do what I do because the love of God compels me, then those actions have eternal value. At the very least, they can change current situations and affect them for eternity.

In contrast, I could do what I do for my own glory or gain. If motivated by selfish ambition rather than love, or pride rather than love, or the desire for personal comfort rather than the love of God, then whatever I have done will not go with me into glory.

To live is Christ means to live every day with meaning — because His love gives everything significance. My life or the lives of most people may seem ordinary, but with Jesus, all life has purpose because what is done in Christian love makes an impact on life everlasting.