In light of eternity, what should be our highest priorities? (Image courtesy of pixabay.com)
If you do not know who Leonard Ravenhill is, then I would love to introduce him to you. Ravenhill was a minister who held revival meetings in the middle part of the 20th century in Europe where thousands were influenced, and then he moved over to America at some point to minister. He died in 1994 at the age of 87 after many years of effective ministry. He had many striking things to say about the American (Western) Christian church. Let me share with you one of his more piercing quotes that I’ve been pondering on for years. Ravenhill said, “Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But do they really think that on Judgment Day, Christ will chastise me, saying, ‘Leonard, you took Me too seriously’?” On Judgment Day is Jesus going to look at you or at me and say, “Billy (state your name), you took me too seriously”? or instead is Jesus going to say, “You did not take Me seriously enough”? For many of us in America, I’m afraid that the latter will be Jesus’ words instead of the former. My thoughts would be that the ones that were criticizing Ravenhill for taking Jesus too seriously were, in actuality, criticizing a man who was living a vibrant, dynamic, and very real Christian life while they, themselves, were very cold, dry, timid and stale in their walks with God. It has been said before that “those that are ‘abnormal’ are only those that are slightly more radical than we, ourselves, are.” For most of us, the Word and thoughts about eternity are choked out by the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches has persuaded us to buy its lies hook, line, and sinker. What will matter most when we stand before Christ on that Final Day? May we seek Jesus in such a way to be found faithful before Him on Judgment Day. May God assist us in weeding out the distractions in our lives and live our lives in light of eternity. You can find a little bit more information about Ravenhill here on Wikipedia, and you can find the book on his life here called “In Light of Eternity” by Mack Tomlinson
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Question:
- How have you recently arranged your life to make time for those things which matter most in the light of eternity?