Finding Hope in Uncertain TimesSample

Build Your Life on Things That Last Forever

“For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 (GNT)

What’s going to last forever? That’s an important question to ask if you’re trying to decide what you’re going to build your life’s values on—because you need to invest your life in the things that will last the longest.

Here’s the truth: Most people rarely evaluate their values or question their perceptions until they have a crisis. It’s when you’re in deep pain that you begin to examine what you’re basing your life on. You may realize you’ve been living your life to feel good, look good, or accumulate wealth or power. The crisis helps you realize instinctively that there has to be more to life.

But there’s no reason to wait for a crisis to evaluate your values. Instead, stop today to consider what you should value. Start by asking yourself that critical question: “What’s going to last?”

The world seems to value the here and now. The message is that tomorrow doesn’t matter. Next year doesn’t matter. A thousand years from today doesn’t matter. Eternity and heaven don’t matter. Live for today.

But the Bible says something different: “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17 NIV). Living only for the here and now is incredibly shortsighted. Temptation is a great example of that.

Temptation isn’t just a battle between good and bad or what’s best and what’s not best. Temptation is always a battle between now and later, between the long-term and the short-term: “Will I do what God says and enjoy the benefits later, or will I do what I want and enjoy the benefits now?”

The Bible teaches us to “fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 GNT).

Whether you’re in a crisis or not, take some time to evaluate what you’re basing your life on. Choose to build your life on God’s truth. It will last forever and never let you down.

This devotional © 2024 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.