Stop and take a look good around you? What do you see?

People, hundreds, thousands, millions of people. Hurrying here and there, pursuing the 'urgent'. Striving for that 'better job' with a higher salary. Seeking for houses, cars, technology, associations, entertainment and the like... We see people trying to 'live life'.

But, what is life? We are so locked up in temporal things that too often we miss seeing the things of eternity, the things that really count.

Let's say you are given a large sum of money, perhaps $1 billion. It's totally yours for you to use and do as you like with. However there's just one condition. You can only keep it for 10 seconds. And then it is taken away from you again. Is this a fair deal? What can you do with all that money for just 10 seconds?

Now measure your life with the ruler of eternity. Quite short isn't it? 70 years, compared with the ceaseless ages of eternity... The Bible says:

"For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." - James 4:14

Next time you are walking outside on a cold morning, count how long it takes the vapour of your breath to disappear. Compared with eternity, life is just like that. Very short.

What about death? Everything in this world has an 'expiry date'. Some people say that death is... ...well it's just a part of life.

Really? Is that what God wants? Was that His perfect plan?

Today, let our thinking be challenged. Life isn't what it appears to be. True life isn't tied up with temporal things.

Dear reader, mark these words carefully. True life is to be living where there is "no more death".

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." - Revelation 21:4

Pray for that day my friend and by faith, pray that God would put heaven in your heart today.

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." - 2. Corinthians 4:18

Take a moment to ponder the following words of encouragement.

"In the home of the redeemed there will be no tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." Isaiah 33:24. One rich tide of happiness will flow and deepen as eternity rolls on. . . .
Let us consider most earnestly the blessed hereafter. Let our faith pierce through every cloud of darkness and behold him who died for the sins of the world. He has opened the gates of Paradise to all who receive and believe on Him. . . . Let the afflictions which pain us so grievously become instructive lessons, teaching us to press forward toward the mark of the prize of our high calling in Christ. Let us be encouraged by the thought that the Lord is soon to come. Let this hope gladden our hearts. . . ."
- Ellen G. White, The Faith I Live By, pg. 362