Meditation - Desiring the temporary? Or seeking the eternal? (The Eternity of God – Pt 6).
by Isaac Overton
Q. How ought we to benefit from the doctrine of God’s eternity?
A. In seven ways: first, by drawing our affections away from that which is temporary, and toward him who is eternal; second, by bringing us to entrust God with ourselves, our children, and our labours; third, by humbling us in light of the majesty of God’s eternity; fourth, by teaching us patience as we wait upon God’s timing; fifth, by giving us the consolation and security of a changeless God in an ever-changing world; sixth, by giving us confidence in the face of death; and seventh, by drawing us into the eternal worship that is due unto him.
Q. How does the eternity of God draw our affections away from that which is temporary, and toward him who is eternal?
A. By revealing to us the stark truth that all that is desirable in this world is but a passing pleasure or a momentary blessing, and that our best and only lasting good and joy rests in God himself who is eternal.
In 1 John 2:17 we read that “the world is passing away along with its desires”. Consider this truth for a moment. Consider all the things of this world that you might desire to have if you could. Would you be excited if you received ten million dollars? What if somebody gave you a new mansion to live in? Or a new sports car? If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, how about a three month luxury cruise in the Bahamas? No? How about a free ticket to eat out in any restaurant you wanted any time you wanted? What about if you were married to the perfect partner? (Sorry to break it to you, but that one doesn’t actually exist!) What about if someone funded your early retirement? What about if you could choose any job you wanted in all the world?
We might enjoy letting our imagination run wild, but even if all of those fantasies became reality, there would be one thing about them that you simply could not change: the fact that you would lose all of them in short order. In Ecclesiastes 2:20- 21 the Preacher declares: “So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.”
We live with the brutal reality that our “outer self is wasting away” (2 Cor 4:17). Our bodies diminish in vitality at a startling rate, and as time goes by we only become more and more acutely aware of that fact. This life is “momentary” (2 Cor 4:17) and fleeting. “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls…” (1 Pt 1:24), such is our life in this world. Such is the very world itself: “the present form of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7:31).
Wisdom perceives these things, and offers the following counsel: “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven” (Prov 23:4-5). Consider the things in your life that you treasure most, those things that presently hold your affections. Now ask yourself these questions concerning those things: Will this thing last into eternity? Is it of eternal value? Does it aid me in seeking and gaining eternal life? Does it hinder me from loving Christ? Inevitably we each find that there are idolatrous loves in our hearts that fail the test of these questions, and we see that we have lost our eternal perspective.
As we come to understand God’s eternal nature, increasingly we come to realise that “in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps 16:11). Christ alone gives us water of which we shall never thirst again, and which also will become within us a spring of water welling up to eternal life (Jn 4:13-14). As we come to know God personally, that knowing is eternal life (Jn 17:3), and is itself fullness of joy and a source of pleasure forevermore (Ps 16:11).
Like Moses, then, we are called by faith to forsake the temporary and fleeting pleasures of sin (Heb 11:24-25), instead delighting ourselves in God, who will then “give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 37:4). There is joy! There alone is lasting delight and pleasure! In Christ alone. How then may we learn to re-direct our affections? Our affections tend to follow the course of our thoughts. Discontent grows when it is fed by thoughts and imaginings of perceived wrongs. Wrong desires and lusts are fed as the mind revolves around images and fantasies of what it might be like to see those desires and lusts fulfilled. Love for God similarly requires that our minds and hearts be occupied with thoughts of him. This is why Psalm 1 calls us to listen continually to his voice in holy meditation upon his word. As we then listen to his word, like the bride of Solomon our heart breaks out: “The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills” (Song 2:8).
Hear, then, and let us obey the exhortation of Colossians 3:1-2: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (insert Phil 4 verse). And as we set our minds upon Christ, may our affections be prayerfully drawn away from that which is passing, and set upon him who alone is eternal. In the words of the old hymn, may this then be our prayer! SDG.
“More love to Thee, O Christ,
More love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make
On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea:
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!
Once earthly joy I craved,
Sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek,
Give what is best;
This all my prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ, to Thee,
More love to Thee,
More love to Thee!
Let sorrow do its work, Send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, Sweet their refrain;
When they can sing with me:
More love, O Christ to Thee,
More love to Thee! More love to Thee!
Then shall my latest breath, Whisper Thy praise:
This be the parting cry, My heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ to Thee,
More love to Thee! More love to Thee!”
(Elizabeth Payson Prentiss, 1869).