"The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18.
What do we see?
What are the things we see?
As we grow older we realize just how many things we do in our lives simply give way to new things, different things. We leave behind cherished rituals as life around us changes. We go from a beloved routine to something totally different. We then strive to renew the rituals in some manner for a bit of familiarity, for the sake of desiring some tiny semblance of what we'd lost. Things don't always change abruptly, sometimes they gradually alter. A choice to do something different even a small something can set in motion a much bigger alteration to what we seem to have always done. We mourn the loss of the past 'good times'. We look back fondly on family memories and somehow wonder how things have changed, wanting to make new memories but they just don't seem to quite measure up to the past- to the 'good old days'. The things of this life that we see are temporal, yet we place such great store on them. We mourn them, we celebrate them, we let our lives get consumed by them on many levels. Yet, they are temporal. TEMPORARY TO ETERNITY.
We, as Christians, MUST have ETERNITY on our minds all the time, not just on various occasions.
We lose so many blessings when we live for our temporary existence over our eternal existence.
Excerpt- E.J. Waggoner-
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Ephesians 1:3.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to knowledge and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4.
Christ has all power, and He hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Notice that the past tense is used. This has been done for us. Then why don't we have them? for just one reason--because we don't take them.
We have been mourning for so long and saying that we want these things; well, we can have them, they have been given to us, and there is no reason why we should not appropriate them to ourselves.
Suppose I come to you and say that I am very hungry and that I would like something to eat. All right, you say, just sit down here to the table and we will get something for you. Soon you place the best of what you have on the table and tell me that there it is and now, eat. But I say, "O, I am so hungry and I do want food so much." All right, take it and eat. "But I am so hungry and I do want something to eat. I have not had anything for days." Well, take it. "Yes, but I do want food so bad." You would say that I was out of my mind if I acted that way and did not eat of the food that was so freely placed before me.
Said one to me the other night, "If that is the way that the Lord does with these blessings that pertain to life and godliness, we are certainly foolish that we do not take them, but I do not think that the illustration is a fair one, because we cannot see these things that the Lord has to offer, and we can see the food." Neither do I think that is a fair illustration, because it does not half fill the bill.
Did not you often think you saw something that you did not see? Does not your sight often deceive you? Sometimes you think you saw a thing that you did not see and then again you saw things that when you came to look at them closely were not as they really appeared to be. But the word of God never deceives. Therefore I am more sure of the things promised in the word of God that if I could see them. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all." Romans 4:16.
"The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18.
We must revise our logic a little in this matter. We think that anything that we can see is all right and sure. Therefore we get hold of a house or a piece of land or some other property and think that we have something, because there is in our possession something that we can see. But the truth of the matter is that the only things that we can depend on are the things that we cannot see.
We can see the earth, and we can see the heavens, but they are going to pass away. "But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter 1:25