Living With Eternity In View

An excerpt from the book titled “LIVING WITH ETERNITY IN VIEW” by Gbile Akanni

Until a man understands the meaning of eternity, he will not be able to prepare for it properly. This world is passing away with everything in it. This world and your condition in it will end one day. But eternity has to do with permanence. It is not measured in terms of time or change. In eternity there is constancy, permanence and consistency. When you step into eternity, you step into what is unchangeable. Your condition can neither improve nor depreciate.

Living in this world is but a step or passage into eternity. Every man is given a chance to live in this world where change can occur so that he can by himself make a choice of his placement in eternity where there will be no change. So, all the years of your existence in this world is to give you an opportunity to make a choice of your placement in eternity.

Eternity is infinity. Once a man steps into eternity, he cannot change his choice. He cannot change anything. It is in this unchangeable state that every man must remain once he enters eternity. The choice that determines your placement in eternity is not made in eternity. It has to be made in time in this life. Living in this world is the only opportunity you have to determine your placement in eternity. Once you step into eternity, you cannot change your mind, location or choice. Choices are not made there. The moment you step over into eternity, you automatically lose your power of choice. Any choice you do not make while you are here on earth can never, ever be made again.

Eternity is the final everlasting state into which everyone is going to enter. The truth is that you are already making a choice of what your eternity will look like, by what you are doing now. You hold the pen in your hand, and you are busy day by day, though unconsciously, writing the script of your eternity.

God does not want us to wake up on the other side in eternity, full of regrets. That is why He graciously speaks to us about eternity in His word now in the realm of time. If you enter into eternity with regret, you will forever live to regret it. If you enter into eternity with a sense of unfinished assignment, you will forever keep living with that sense of unfinished assignment. There is no programme for making up for your deficiency in eternity. It is given to man once to die, and after that, judgment.

My understanding of judgment here is placement in eternity. And that placement is an eternal placement. No promotion in eternity. Promotion is only possible here on earth. Once you enter into eternity, there is no promotion, no growth, no advancement and no regression.

You must strive to secure a correct placement for yourself in eternity no matter the cost. This is the wise thing to do rather than to get involved in self-indulgence on earth only to face eternity in hell fire. Whatever could cause you to sin, you must cut it off. It is better to enter into life maimed or crippled than to enter eternity on the side of hell. If there were no eternity, we would not need to put ourselves under any pressure of holy living. The time we have now is just to determine where to step into in eternity. Anything that will hinder me from eternity in God’s kingdom is not actually worth keeping in this world. My two feet may be useful to me here, but if they endanger my place in eternity, it is better to be crippled now and with one foot, make the right place in eternity. Remember in eternity you enter into permanence. You enter into a world without end.

The brief time you spend here is only to position you in eternity. Whatever I do at each point here on earth has an eternal consequence. It is only in eternity that it will be played back. Each of my actions and choices here on earth will serve to either jeopardize or enhance my position in eternity, so, when we talk about living for eternity we are talking about your choices that will position you properly in eternity.

Every day here on earth is like a point on an elongated line which reaches eternity. Each omission places an eternal, irreplaceable gap in my life in eternity. Living for eternity means living and making choices that will position you properly in eternity. It means living with eternity in view. Labouring for eternity means doing things here on earth that will have an everlasting positive or negative reward. Actually everything a man does here on earth, whether good or bad has an eternal component to it. It is possible for a man to squander all that eternity could hold for him within a short time.

Most people misunderstand eternity. We think eternity is far away but it is just one step away from here. There is just but a step between life and death. How will you give account of the days you spent in what has no relevance in eternity? If your life is not yet right with God, you must pause here for a sober reflection and prayer. Do you know anything in your life that places you on the wrong side in eternity forever? You will do yourself a lot of eternal good if you take your stand and deal with it. The things that you enjoy today that make you make wrong choices in life, will become a terrible offence to you in eternity.

You must repent before you cross the line to the other side where repentance is impossible. You know what you are involved in, that is secretly eating up your life, and pushing you towards a sorrowful eternity. Take your stand, be bold and cut it off.