BOOKLET 1
What is most important in life
Chapter 1: Thinking about life Chapter 2: What kind of life? Chapter 3: Why we need eternal life
Chapter 3: Why we need eternal life
What is eternal life and why should we seek for it? Many of us think that what is important in life is what we have in this world and what we are able to do with our own power. When we think like this and spend our time to chase after these things, we find that there is emptiness in our hearts. No matter what we do and what we get, we cannot take away that emptiness. It is like eating and eating and still being very hungry. It is like drinking and drinking and still being very thirsty. We are never fully satisfied because the things in this world in themselves cannot bring meaning to our hearts.
When we live for the things in this world, we cannot find true meaning in life. This is because deep meaning in life can come to us only when our heart has become good and right. When at times we are kind to other people, there is joy in our heart. This is not the same kind as the happiness we may feel when we get many things we like in a selfish way.
Most of the time, we think about our own lives and what we like. We do not think much about what is good for others, what is helpful to them. Sometimes, we try to be kind and good and yet we carry on living for ourselves. Why is this so?
We all know that it is easier to do the things that we like. We also know that many of the things we like are not good for our hearts or for others but we still want to have them. Why do we often quarrel and fight with others? It is usually because we want to get something for ourselves and others also want that thing for themselves.
It is easier to think first about what we want for ourselves than to care for what is good for others. When we choose to live in that way, we become like that in our heart as we grow older. It becomes a habit, a way of life for us. After that, we find that it becomes more and more "natural" for us to live in that way. It becomes more and more difficult to change for the better.
If we want to be good in our heart, we must learn to choose what is right and not just what we like. It is not easy to live this way. We must want it very much and we must choose it even when it is difficult. The rich man deeply respected and trusted the Lord Jesus. He understood that it was the right thing to follow what the Lord Jesus told him to do but he found it very hard to do so. He liked his riches very much and it was his way of life. He chose the easier way, to hold on to his riches and he then went away, sad in his heart.
It does not mean that it is always wrong to be rich or to have things in this world. What is wrong is that we cling on to our riches even when our riches stop us from doing what is right. We should always be willing to give up our riches for what is helpful, what is good and what is right. If we are not willing to do that, we become slaves to our riches. In our heart we become prisoners to our selfish ways.
The Lord Jesus knew that the riches had captured the heart of that rich man and He wanted to help him to be free. He wanted to help him to learn to choose to let go of his riches. If he gave them to the poor, his heart could be free to receive eternal life from God.
You may think that you are not like that rich man because you are not rich. Each one of us may be like that rich man in many other ways.
When, as children, we quarrel and fight and are not willing to share, it is the same way of life. Young people and adults do that too!
Do we quarrel and fight to get our own way
Like these two birds I saw one day?
When, as young people, we are not willing to help other students because we want to be cleverer than others and to be praised, we are doing the same thing as that rich man. Children and adults may also selfishly seek to be praised.
When, as adults, we are not willing to say "sorry" because we do not want people to know that we have done wrong, are we not like that rich man too? We are clinging on to our "face", our name, what people think of us and we are not willing to give that up so as to do what is right. Children and young people also do that.
When we live in this way, we may get our own way but it is not the right way. We will find then that life is empty in our heart even though we may enjoy it for a while.
Sometimes, we see that we should be good and we try very hard to do the right things. We know that it is not easy but we want to be kind and helpful to others. We want to be honest and not to tell lies. Soon after that, we find that we still do the things we know we should not. We try again and again and we still fail. Why do we keep failing?
We all know that we came into being at a point in time. We did not make ourselves. We did not create ourselves. We did not come into this world by our own power. We are also not able to become good in character by ourselves, by our own ability.
God created us. He has made us such that we can know Him and be like Him in our hearts. We can now choose whether we want to be good, like Him, or we want to disobey Him and go our own way. It is easy to choose to go our own way and live whatever way we like. We may enjoy going our own way and yet we find a deep emptiness in our hearts. If we want to change, to be good, we may also try to do so by ourselves and that is why we fail.
The Lord Jesus tells us that we do not have life in ourselves. This means that unless we come to God, we do not have eternal life, the life of God. This life can help us to become good in our character, if we want to do what is right, and we trust Him and obey Him.
In some ways, we are like the moon.
The moon cannot shine by itself. It needs the light from the sun to shine on it before it will give light in the dark. We need spiritual light and life from God. Otherwise, our lives will be dark.
In other ways, we are not like the moon. For example, the moon only reflects the light from the sun. The light bounces off the moon and it does not become part of the moon. For us, God wants to give His life to us such that it becomes part of our lives. From our hearts we can then give out spiritual light and life as we depend on God.
We will not be able to be truly good until we come to God for His life. The Lord Jesus says that He is the "bread of life", "the living bread", because He can give us eternal life if we are truly sorry for the way we have lived and we want Him to help us to change. If we trust Him, He will give His own life, the life of God, to us so that we can become good. In our hearts we will then find true meaning in life.
We need to come to God and ask for His forgiveness for all the wrong that we have done. Even if you have done very bad things in life, God is willing to forgive you if you now want to change your ways and follow Him. You must no longer want to go your own way but now choose to follow God's way. When you trust in the Lord Jesus and choose to follow Him, you can then "eat" of this "living bread" and His life becomes part of your life. You will begin to know eternal life in your heart.
We can have eternal life while we are still living in this body while on earth because we can receive God's life now, through the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus explains this in the Bible in the book of John chapter 6, verses 26 to 58. He says, "I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not hunger and the one who believes in Me will never thirst." When we humbly and honestly invite Him into our hearts, our lives will no longer be empty but be filled with meaning. This life is meant to continue to grow and blossom in eternity.
What do you want in life?
God, who made you, has given you the choice, whether you want to be good, like Him, or you want your own selfish way of life. You must choose which way you want to live. No one else can choose this for you.
What happens to your heart if you choose a selfish way of life?
What happens if you choose to be good, like God?
If you want to be good, do you find that you fail again and again even though you try very hard? God is glad to help you if you ask Him.
In what way are we like the moon? In what way are we not like the moon? Do you think these realities are important and meaningful?
What do you think eternal life means? How can you receive eternal life in your heart? What will happen when you have eternal life?
With God's help, you can clearly see
What you choose now is what you will be.
If you want to know more about how you could find life, you could go on to read: PART 1. BOOKLET 2: Wanting life
P.S.
If you have not yet received God's forgiveness and you have now decided to come to God for forgiveness, you could pray to Him. You could tell Him you are sorry you went your own way and now you want to follow Him and His ways and ask Him to forgive you for all the wrong things you have done. You could thank Him for the eternal life that He offers you through the Lord Jesus and receive Him into your heart. The Lord Jesus died for our sake, bearing the punishment that we deserve because of our wrongdoing, making it possible for us to be forgiven and to receive the life of God now.
In order to deepen your walk with God, it is important to read the Bible and pray to God regularly. It is also helpful for you to learn from other Christians with good character, who deeply love God. You could also take some time, prayerfully, to look for a suitable Christian congregation that is faithful to God, where the Bible is carefully taught and applied to daily life. Look for one where you can be helped to know the Lord Jesus more personally each day, relate meaningfully with others and grow in the quality of your character.
If you have difficulty getting information on the availability of this and other booklets on this subject, A Journey in Life; for enquiries, you could write to the following address:
Ghim Moh Estate Post Office
PO Box 348
Singapore 912742
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As each new day begins to dawn...
...what is it that you look forward to in life?
ISBN 981-04-2467-1