The Best of Times... or the Worst?

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

I love what I do. I love writing, speaking, teaching, witnessing, and fellowshipping with other believers. I love my family and my home, my friends and my neighbors. Life is good…most of the time. And God is good…all of the time. But every now and then I’m jolted back into the reality that, as the late E.V. Hill used to say, “This ain’t it!” And I realize what an alien I truly am on this planet.

I was talking with my 86-year-old mother earlier today about how it seems God is “cutting the strings” that tie us to this temporal life. We likened it to a hot air balloon, waiting for the ropes that hold us down to be cut so we can rise up and soar. In the middle of our conversation, I thought of a saying I heard many years ag For believers, life here on earth is as bad it gets; for those who refuse Jesus as their Savior, life here on earth is as good as it gets. That, my friends, is a sobering thought, one that puts things in clear perspective.

The Bible tells us that God has prepared a beautiful place for those who love Him, a place full of joys we can’t even begin to imagine. But even as we long for the day we will join our Lord in that wonderful place, there are those all around us whose earthly lives are coming to an abrupt end, people who have never received Jesus as their Savior and who are destined for a place so horrible we wouldn’t even want to know the depths of its misery, even if we could. And it lasts forever.

Even unbelievers like to talk and speculate about heaven, and most hope it truly exists and that they’ll go there one day. But few want to believe in the reality of hell. The problem with that thinking is that Jesus Himself spoke more often of hell than He did of heaven, and He did so because He didn’t want anyone to go there. Sadly, however, the Scriptures also tell us that many more will choose the broad road that leads to destruction than the narrow road that leads to the Father. That fact should break our hearts, as it breaks the heart of God Himself, who is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). Regardless of the particular type of work that God has called us to do, we have all been called to the ministry of reconciliation—proclaiming the gospel that restores relationship between God and man. Whether we spend our days writing books or selling shoes, flipping burgers or selling cars, our purpose here on earth is to glorify God and tell others about Him.

Don’t get sidetracked with to-do lists. Remember, "this ain't it," and soon enough we will be in that wonderful place, rejoicing with the angels around the throne of God. In the meantime, may we resolve in our hearts to spend what time we have left leading others to that wonderful place so that life on this broken planet will not be the best they ever have.

Kathi Macias is an Angel-award winning writer who has authored seventeen books, including the bestselling devotional A Moment A Day from Regal Books, and the popular Matthews and Matthews detective novels from Broadman and Holman. Kathi has written commentary for Thomas Nelson’s Spirit-Filled Life Bible (Student Edition) and was part of the devotional writing team for Zondervan’s New Women’s Devotional Bible. Her numerous articles, short stories, and poems have appeared in various periodicals. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and has appeared on several radio and TV programs. A mother and grandmother, Kathi lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where she is at work on several writing and editing projects. An ordained minister, Kathi serves as spiritual adviser to the Christian Authors Network and membership chairman for the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. www.kathimacias.com .