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Eternal Life


          Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (I Timothy 6:12)

          Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

          Do you feel like you have the eternal life? Christians believe that we are given eternal life when we become Christians, but I suspect most of us think of it more as something that begins when we die than something we can hold on to today. Eternal life is that someday thing when we get to sit on clouds and take up harp-playing. (And somehow, we’ll be good at it because, after all, we’ll be perfect.)
          No, I don’t think it works that way. I think today’s second passage gives us a better picture. Eternal life is knowing God. In the Old Testament, all the other tribes except Levi got given territories as their inheritance. God told them repeatedly that He was Levi’s inheritance. God did the same with the nation of Israel. The rest of the kingdoms got the rest of the world, but so long as Israel kept their promises to God, as long as they held onto Him, He would take care of them. They got Him. 
          So, what does it mean to get God? How do we take hold of this eternal life to which we’ve been called? 
          We could answer that it means obedience. That’s true. You don’t get God if you’re determined to get other gods (including yourself) instead. We could answer that it means discipline because that’s obedience repeated (or perhaps squared, if you like mathematics.) Endurance is obedience cubed, it’s an infinite loop of obedience. But I think the key is not our behavior, but our focus or goal. If God…if knowing God…and, therefore, eternal life is not the goal. If “a good life,” riches, power, or even personal happiness are the focus, then we’re not going to last on the ups and downs of discipline or the loop-de-loops of endurance. If God isn’t our “carrot,” He won’t work well as a stick either.

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