Having a plan for the future can give us great comfort. While we should trust that God will take care of our needs and is always in control (James 4:15), He still instructs us to wisely plan for what might lie ahead (Proverbs 6:6-8).
We prepare for our immediate future daily by picking out our clothes to wear and choosing what to eat for breakfast. We plan for our distant future as we save for major purchases and even for our retirement. But, we also need to be sure and plan for our eternal future that will begin when this physical life is over and never come to an end.
One of the wonderful things about our hope as Christians is that we know that our eternal future is secure. Our hope is the confident expectation that all of God’s promises are always true. Paul tells us that Christ Jesus “is our hope” in 1 Timothy 1:1, which means Christ is the proof that God is always faithful.
If we have Christ in our lives, having obeyed the gospel, and therefore fully trust in God’s promises, He has already prepared our eternal future. In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul wrote, “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness….” Paul did not doubt his salvation or doubt his eternal reward; Paul knew and trusted that his eternity was secure.
Have we prepared for our eternal future? Do we trust that our eternal future is secure? Do we have the hope within us that only comes through obedience to the gospel?
Matt Langfield