When we live from our place in eternity, our life will make more sense, and it will result in security in our identity, a sense or purpose and will produce passion
With Gladiator II coming out soon, one of the more memorable quotes from the first movie has Maximus say to his men before battle, “What we do in life, echoes in eternity.”
Whether we think so or not, whether we choose to be indifferent or not, we are each going to leave a legacy, on earth and in eternity – good, bad, great, or somewhere in between. But we get to choose what kind of legacy that is by the choices we make.
Ecclesiastes 3 says that God has planted eternity in the hearts of men. We have this inherent sense of divine purpose, this feeling of “I was created for more“, and a longing which nothing on earth can satisfy, though we try to satisfy it with everything until we discover it can only be satisfied by God himself. We desire to know, yet we cannot even comprehend or grasp what God has done, is doing, or his plan from beginning to end. It is for His glory that He has planted eternity in our hearts, and it is for our glory to seek it out and to live it out. Ephesians 2:6 says God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms. The heavenly realms exist in eternity. God exists in eternity. Well, Christ is already seated there, which means so are we who are in Christ. So we can choose to live from our place in eternity, now, on earth. When we live from this place, with eternity in mind, our life can begin to make more sense, as we live from the security of our identity, resulting in a great sense of purpose, which produces passion.
Living from a place of eternity, from a mindset that says “What I do in life, echoes in eternity“, and with a mind purposed with intentionality to leave a lasting legacy that changes future generations, means feeling a responsibility to those that came before you, feeling a responsibility to those who you are entrusted with now, and feeling a responsibility to those that will come after you. It’s choosing to live and sacrifice today, for the benefit of the generation you’ll never meet.