Every day we expend our lives. If we expend our days, our hours, our money, our emotions on earthly things, the results will be currently and temporarily visible. If we expend our days, our hours, our money, our emotions on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, it will be currently and temporarily invisible. No one will see the wisdom behind this expenditure. In fact it will look foolish many times even to Christians who lack the faith to see with eyes placed on Christ above.
Nate Saint said, “People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives … and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.”
We must not listen to those who have their eyes on things below. We must keep our eyes on things above where “our lives are hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
Here’s a question to ask yourself: “In a thousand years when eternity with Christ has just begun, will I regret this sacrifice? This bold step of faith? This temporal pain caused by preaching?” How about my earthly-minded decisions? Will I regret the caution? The unwillingness to suffer? To trust God?
All bold moves for Christ have a hidden value that only men with eyes fixed on Christ can clearly see. Someday our lives will appear with Christ (Col. 3:4). All else will then fade quickly into the forgotten history. Let’s work with eyes placed on Christ above!