Now and Later

There is much to be said about knowing we will be with God when we die. That’s our faith. Jesus died our death so we could live eternally in God’s Kingdom. Good news, right? But does that mean our days here on earth have no meaning? Is being with God the big payoff for biding our time here on earth? What about life in this place? Does God matter much in our day-to-day in this world?
I guess the truth can be for anyone who reads this is that we sometimes tend to live life in the “if I can just get past…” mode. Lately, it's been tougher than usual. Having the “operation” and waiting for the eventual recovery to be over.
The same thing happens with faith, “If I can just hold on until Jesus comes or I get to heaven…” But is that any way to live? Is this what God intends – we manage as best w

e can and God will meet us on the other side?
The trouble with this “managing life” way of thinking is that we can put life with God as a future event. It is so easy to get in a mindset where life with God begins when life in this world ends. As long as I have this life I need to make the best of it, on my own, working as diligently as I can to be a good person. It’s easy to live believing that ONE day, SOME day, things will be better, but for now I just need to HOLD ON. For now I need to MANAGE MY LIFE in this world so God will be proud of me when I get to HIS world.
Well, that’s where we need to remember – God wants all of us to have life NOW and LATER. Jesus came that we might have life and have it in great abundance. Today is the day to live in grace and enjoy life in Christ.
Living in grace is living in peace – no matter what life throws at us. We can choose grace every day.