My days are numbered. My existence in this dimension, on this rock commonly known as earth, is short. Twelve years of childhood, eight years of teens, fifty or sixty years of adulthood. Of course, we are assuming I am lucky and don’t manage to get myself killed before then. Death rates involving big mouths and provacative snarkiness are on the rise, so yes, I will need to be lucky to make it to 80 years of age.

After that, I’m dead. So are you and your little dog too. If you are dead, nothing else that relates to you matters much. You’re dead, gone, lights out, sleeping with the fishes if you angered the moffia…you get the idea. How much you are worth, who you know, what you have done, it all has a value of a bottle of nose-hair.

Now, if that were the end of it, I would be one apathetic, pessimistic, live-for-the-moment-because-nothing-else-matters pain in the arse. Ok, so I may be a certified pain in the arse already, but that’s completely different…really. Here is the kicker: I am not planning on staying dead. How is that possible? I know this dude-you may have heard of him-named Jesus. He made me an offer, and it was one I certainly could not refuse. He promised me that, at the end of the age when all is said and done, He is going to raise me up from the grave. He made this offer to everyone. This is the very central core of Christianity. Christ beat the curse of Death, and offers all of us the freedom from Death. Through His sacrifice, we join Christ for eternity, immortal. He is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE, after all.

If you think that eternity will consist of strumming harps or floating around as twinkling whips of light, you are wrong. Read C.S. Lewis’ Last Battle. That is a more accurate picture. We are promised new bodies that never decay. If I have an immortal body, there is no way I am going to use just one hand to stroke a harp for the next several millennia.

The realization of my impending immortality has had two profound effects on me. First, I realize that what I do in the here and now matters. It matters a lot. Unlike in the next life, I do not have an infinite amount of time at my disposal. Christ gives us salvation for free if we accept it, but He also gave some pretty specific instructions on what we are to do here. These 80 years are all the time I have to make an impact for what I believe, and to take a stand from who I serve. I am not saying we all need to run out and be missionaries, but we should definitly be putting the gifts we have been given to a greater use than self-gratification.

Secondly, I realize-and am comforted-by the fact that this world is not it. While this world is corrupt and full of evil, eternity with Christ, I’m thinking not so much. Life can suck, it’s a fact. Really bad things happen; often they happen to good people. But this is not the end. It is the prelude, the title page, the first sentance in the opening act of our lives. There are things in our future so glorious we cannot even begin to comprehend or imagine. There is a God who loves us, and by His Son’s work, we can experience just how great the Father delights in us. In this life, we may suffer, sacrifice, and hurt. In those times of pain, remember that this is not all there is. In the next life, all debts will be paid, all wrongs will be made right. That promise if for you and me.

This is real, folks. This is not some abstract idea or theological discussion. This is as solid as…uhh, as something that’s…really very solid (it’s getting late). Actually, I suspect our life after the grave will feel much more ‘real’ then this shadow existence on earth ever will. Even so, this is our only time here. Let’s make it count, for His glory.

Hello everyone. For those of you paying attention, I’ve been absent from this site for a few weeks. For those of you not paying attention, I’ve been gone 5 minutes. First I was at a beach house for a week where there was no internet. Then my computer broke (oh the horror) and then I spent the last to days dealing with the fact that my own blog-this thing you are reading-would not let me on to write a new post. All this to say, I am back.

I would apologize for going so long without a word, but seeing the 94 replies (and that equals 94 emails, since I’m notified of every reply) on my last post, it seems some of you had quite a bit of fun in my absence. You are all lucky I’m to apathetic to excersice any type of moderation powers on your comments. I do not have much time now, but I will attempt to make a full post tonight, assuming I live through this shift.

It is nice to be back, and I thank you all for sticking around in my absense. Hopefully I will warrent your loyalty (propably not the right word) in the days-and posts-to come.