Is this life overrated? Not according to the commercials. They each state their products are what make this life more comfortable, improve our self-image and make life worth living. Is life more than what we see? God places in every heart that because we are eternal, what is on the other side of life is far more important.

Jesus, while speaking to His disciples before His crucifixion says, “He that loveth his life shall lose it: and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” The word life appears three times, however from two separate words.

The first life comes from the word that means breath. It is the same as when God breathes life into Adam making him a living soul. This is the invisible part, our inner life. Our self-consciousness comes from our soul through what we are emotionally. This includes our appetites, passions and affections for the things of this world.

If we value this world above all else in the end we will be left with nothing. We come into this world with nothing and will leave the same way.

Jesus makes an unusual statement by saying we are to hate this life. The word hate is the opposite of love for God. There may be times that our family and in-laws think we hate them because we love the Lord more and follow Him. The Bible, however, does not say we are to love our neighbor as God, which would be idolatry, but as ourselves.

The second word for life is our spiritual relationship with God, which is our God consciousness. We can experience a relationship with the Lord by faith and are able to see the invisible, live for eternity and love God. We believe with our heart what we could not know before salvation. This word appears in connection to the Tree of Life in the book of Revelation that yields eternal life to believers in heaven. It is used in connection with the Book of Life where names of those having eternal life are recorded. Jesus, as the Bread and Water of life, is the giver of everlasting life to those who believe. The Crown of Life is an everlasting reward given by the Lord that we cannot lose.

We are to guard our short time on planet earth from things that will prevent us from preparing for eternity. Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary to Ecuador says, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.”

This life is to prepare us for where and how we spend eternity. It is too valuable to waste and too important to spend on just ourselves. Preparing for eternity means investing our time, talents and treasures for the Lord. This quote sums it up, “Only one life, ‘twill be soon be past: only what’s done for Christ will last.”

REV. STEVE CONWELL can be reached at SteveConwell@ outlook.com.