Week 17: Wandering vaguely in a passing world?

 

Many people do not know where they are going at the end of their earthly lives.

That is not a happy place to be in, if it is true that there is eternity after this mortal life. Pressing on, and if there are two kinds of eternity – one of eternal bliss and one of eternal damnation – it is a cinch that you want to be in the better place.

Some are not sure they have done enough in this life to escape rebirth as another being in this same world; they are reconciled to an endless cycle of transmigration. The problem is, figuring out their original form and what the current reincarnation number is . But I guess it does not matter.

Some simply do not care or so they say. That likely means they have led lives in a way that may be described as epicurean at best or debauchery at worst !  Under the premise with which we started, it is a no-brainer where they are headed. Ah,but we should not be hasty to judge.

Some think that this is the end. Kaput. All is over, there is nowhere to go. In the aspect that they regard this earthly life as the be-all and end-all, they are not significantly different from the devil-may-care types above.

Some others do want to go to some kind of Mukti – positive eternity. But they do not know THE WAY. In their ignorance, they do either one or a mix of the following:

1. They try to pile up good deeds  in a pathetic effort to atone for their wrong doings, trying vainly to aggregate enough pluses to out-tower the minuses. This includes religious tours to sundry destinations, immersion in ‘holy’ rivers and the like. Pulling down pagan structures and building temples instead, supposedly is a huge plus.

2. Others like some millionaire Jains, quit. They give away their wealth and embrace monkhood.

3. Certain others leave it to the last minute. Lord, lord they cry as they totter on the brink of death. For good measure there is Vedic scripture that validates this approach, claiming that the Lord does look upon these eleventh hour devotees with favour.

Now let us see what the Bible says on the subject. The 14th chapter of the gospel of John begins this way, with Jesus saying the following to His disciples:

1“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

‘Alles klar’ ….to employ an oft-used German phrase.

But is it really! Reading on…..

5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Thomas being Thomas, must of course speak his mind and in this instance, he exhibits his total (and abysmal) nescience of the purpose of Jesus’s mission on earth. Mind you he had been a disciple of Jesus for all of 3 years! Atta boy!! I rather think his attention was diverted by some other attraction when Jesus was making it pretty clear where He is going and why He is going. It could also be that, conditioned as he was to raise a contrarian view, he makes his statement mechanically.

While Thomas’s quest for certainty may not all be bad, you don’t want to be like that in the presence of Jesus. You want to pay close attention when He speaks. Hang on to every word. These are words of life. Remember the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 where Jesus speaking metaphorically offers eternal life.

Where are you going when your time is up ? Have you made sure – while on earth – that you are going to spend eternity with God , indeed are you confident in Christ Jesus? Or are you miserable, clinging desperately to some baseless optimistic philosophy and hoping against hope, that all things will anyway end well ?

Why leave it to chance when it is possible now to  ” approach God’s throne of grace with confidence”?  Hebrews 4:16. 

We know THE WAY!

8 thoughts on “Week 17: Wandering vaguely in a passing world?”

  1. We can make this earth a heaven, eternal bliss by our thots n deeds.live a life now so u can see fruitful, blissful tomoro, beyond the other shoar.

  2. Thank you annan
    “Beautifully expressed truths!”

    A.W.Tozer
    “Jesus is not one of many ways to approach God, nor is He the best of several ways; He is the only way.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *