Before eating a meal, we purchase and cook food. Before taking a vacation, we plan and pack. Before retiring from work, we save and invest. Preparing is a part of everyday life. Christians recognize that while preparing for the near and distant future is essential, nothing is more critical than preparing for eternity.
Our preparation for eternity requires a spiritual focus. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul explains that our focus is not on the “things which are seen” but instead on the “things which are not seen” (2 Corinthians 4:18). He continues to explain that the things “which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Christians need to be more concerned with spiritual things than physical things.
Paul also explains that this shift of focus will ultimately result in an eternal reward. In the previous verse, he writes, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The troubles and trials of this physical life can easily steal our attention away from spiritual things, but if we stay focused and continue to prepare the reward is “beyond all comparison.”
It is worth our time and effort to not just prepare for and live in this temporary life but, more importantly, to prepare and live for our eternal life.
Matt Langfield