So Stephen Hawking says Heaven is a fairy tale. And there's some group who believes the world will end tomorrow.
On 3/21/04, I almost choked to death on some salad while eating in a Ryans restaurant in O'Fallon, Illinois. The trusty-Heimlich Manuever failed to do the job - until the seventh or eighth attempt. In that moment, I knew that there was more. I had always believed there was more. But in that moment, I KNEW it. I suspect most people know God is real and eternity comes next - when death is imminent.
On 3/21/04, I almost choked to death on some salad while eating in a Ryans restaurant in O'Fallon, Illinois. The trusty-Heimlich Manuever failed to do the job - until the seventh or eighth attempt. In that moment, I knew that there was more. I had always believed there was more. But in that moment, I KNEW it. I suspect most people know God is real and eternity comes next - when death is imminent.
Yes, the world will end. God only knows when. And there is an eternity waiting, though the brilliant Stephen Hawking says there isn't (keep in mind that the brilliant Blaise Pascal came to the conclusion that the Stephen Hawkings of the world were making a terrible bet in letting everything ride on their no-God, no-Heaven position.) Really, though, it all comes down to this.
Everything ends.
The only one who beat the death-trap is Jesus. So His life/death/resurrection is the real question on the table. I'm with Pascal. Everyone has to enter a bet. The only wise bet is to let it ride on Eternity's existence rather than nothingness. As for the end of the world predictions, they are a waste of time. We don't know when it will be over any more than we know when we will take that last breath. And we're not meant to know. Probably because we'd get too busy with holding up signs and driving cars that say the world is ending, and we would forget to feed the hungry, nurse the sick, clothe the naked, and so on. We have work to do. Heavens, do we ever have work to do! You simply never know when a piece of lettuce will get stuck in your throat. In that moment, you know that the world (for you) is done and that eternity is well on its way. And that's all that matters right about then.
Until then, we need to stay on-task. And the key to that job is also found in this same Jesus Christ.
Amen, Denise!
ReplyDeleteJesus explained in Matthew that no one knows when the end of time will come. He explains HOW He will come again but that even He doesn't know WHEN. Only His Father in Heaven known WHEN. I think it's interesting that He addressed this issue even 2,000 years ago, and I wonder if people were enthralled by the idea of the end of the world back then, too. If Christ says no one knows, then I believe Him, and I take comfort in the fact that it is all in the hands of Our Heavenly Father!
We should all live as though our end is imminent, as you say. Wonderful post!