What Will Happen ‘Just a Few Minutes from Now’?

Have you thought much about eternity lately? Probably not. For most of us, just getting through today is enough of a challenge. I do know that, as one young student told her teacher, “Forever is a really long time,” and it seems to me, eternity is forever and then some.

Whether we like to think about it or not, eternity is in the future for every one of us. And even if we have many years of life on earth remaining, when viewed from an eternal perspective, it’s still just blip on the radar screen of time. So, how are we to proceed? The Scriptures can offer some useful insights.

 

Even an extremely long life – 80, 90 or even 100 years – is just a “vapor,” according to James the apostle. He wrote, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist [vapor] that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:3-14).

 

Well, that’s a pretty pessimistic way of looking at things, don’t you think? Many of us already have plans for vacations next year, are contemplating a new car, or maybe changing careers. Thinking about our lives as a “vapor” or “mist” is kind of discouraging. Maybe, but in the eternal scheme of things, it’s true.

 

An old friend of mine and a former boss, Ted DeMoss, used to give a talk called “Just a Few Minutes from Now.” He’d reflect on family members or friends who had died and gone to heaven, musing that even if he lived for a long time, in terms of eternity he’d be seeing them again “just a few minutes from now.”

 

As you get older and see more and more friends and family members leaving this life, you think about things like this more often. It’s not morbid, just realistic. You start to assess what you’ve already done and what you hope to do yet, the Lord willing. Another friend of mine calls it “living in the dash,” referring to the dash nestled between the date of birth and date of death on a tombstone.

 

This makes it all the more imperative to take to heart the admonition of Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

 

It was British missionary C.T. Studd who wrote, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes only one, soon will its fleeting hours be done.” Again, he wasn’t being melancholy or morose; Studd was acknowledging the “vaporish” nature of life and the importance of striving to leave the best mark possible before it ends.

 

For some of us, the first step is making certain where we’ll be going when the door to this life closes and the doorway to the rest of eternity opens. The apostle Peter referred to this when he wrote, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Peter 1:10).

 

How can we make God’s calling, His “election” sure? The Scriptures teach there is only one way. Jesus Christ boldly declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). We find this affirmed in Acts 4:12. While speaking to members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, Peter asserted, “This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

 

As we consider everything we’re looking forward to, our dreams, plans and expectations, it’s easy to reason, “Yeah, but I’ve got lots of time. I can deal with that later.” Maybe – but maybe not. Speaking to His disciples not only about death but also the end of time as we know it, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come” (Mark 13:31-33).

 

We find a vivid illustration of this in 1 Corinthians 15:52, concerning Christ’s second coming. It states, “…we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

As we go through the busyness of each day, all of our commitments and challenges, we should always keep in mind what lies ahead “just a few minutes from now.”