The Illusion of Permanence

1 John 2:17 "The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

The world is passing away. I remember being in this very room thinking how very far away adulthood was. Yet here I am now a grown man. Other things still seem far off to me; graduating, getting married, having children, becoming elderly but in God's will they will come and they will end. When I focus on worldly things I create an illusion of permanence around them. I use this to deceive myself that there will be no consequences, no hangover, no judgment day for the evil deeds that I do. And so I pour all my time, energy and effort investing in little scraps of time trying to make them last forever. But with an eternal perspective we start investing in a glory that all creation is eagerly longing for, in a treasure that moth and rust cannot destroy, in a life abiding with God forever. (Rom 8:19, Mat 6:20, 1 John 2:17)