I was talking to somebody recently about the Kingdom of God. He is a bit skeptical about an eternity of living for a number of reasons, but his main one was this: What could we do with ourselves for all eternity?
I think, for someone who does not share the same hope that I do, this is a very legitimate question. One day, you are bound to see all there is to see and do all there is to do, right? What could you do with yourself for such a never ending period of time?
I explained to him that, first, I don't know much, and second, it is the Christian's joy to be with our creator. To us, there is nothing more pleasing that the world has to offer... But more importantly, we are promised a new Heaven and a new Earth. The old will pass away, and God will do what God does best;
Creating and recreating.
And we will do what we were created to do;
Respond to God's creation.
With an eternal Creator come eternal possibilities for creation: Color's we've never seen... Fruit we've never tasted... Music we've never heard... Feelings we've never felt before... Flowers we've never smelled before... and it doesn't stop there. It goes on for an eternity... and the God who never ceases to surprise us will never let us down because we are meant for this eternity with our Creator.
But here is the most important message of all... We don't need to look into the future. We can help mend the brokenness of our creation now because we are just like God, our Creator. We recreate. This is why we have artists, doctors, scientists, pastors, mechanics, technicians, performers... The list can go on forever. Whatever it is you do, do it to the best of your ability not for the sake of money, not for the sake of boredom. Do it for the sake of the Kingdom of God... because God wants you for an eternal purpose.
Jimmy Mallory is a Religion major at Wright State University. He also serves as the youth director of Concord United Methodist Church and works at the Cokesbury Bookstore at United Theological Seminary. His goal is to one day become an ordained Deacon for the United Methodist Church and serve by teaching Church history and theology in a higher education setting. Jimmy is married to the breath-takingly gorgeous Tesia Mallory and they have a dog named Omega and a bird named Gloria. You can find more of his blogs at jmallory.xanga.com