A Passing Shadow

One day, perhaps sooner than we expect, we will enter into eternity. So how will the value of our days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built. What will matter is not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. It is not about your competence, but about your character. It is not about your success, but about your significance. In other words, why did you do what you did?

One day, when we are standing at an awards ceremony in Heaven known as the Judgment Seat of Christ, rewards will be given out. This is not about whether you will get into Heaven, because the Judgment Seat of Christ takes place in Heaven. But rewards will be given, and the test of them, according to Scripture, is motive. In that final day, God will not be saying, "Well done, good and successful servant."

Rather, God will be saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

That is not to say you can’t be successful and faithful. After all, it sure beats being a failure and being unfaithful. We want to do what we do for the glory of God and to the best of our ability. But we also want to keep our priorities straight, because eternity always should be in view of all that we say and do.

The Bible tells us that our days on earth are short: "We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace" (1 Chronicles 29:15).

We act as though life on this earth is the main event, and the afterlife is, well, an afterthought. But nothing could be further from the truth.