Which kingdom?

A couple of days ago, I was reading a devotional. This is an excerpt from that devotional...

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1 Timothy 6:19 says, "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

The above Scripture encourages us to lay up in store for the time to come. In the context, it is actually speaking to those who have riches in this world, exhorting them to be rich in good works and generous to the needy. But I do believe this message is for all of us. I think it is one of the greatest exhortations we can have, don't you?

Every moment of our lives we should be "laying up in store" for the eternal kingdom. We cannot take any material possessions out of this world. It is all vanity. 1 Timothy 6:7 says, "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." We will only take what we lay up in heaven.

We need to remind ourselves again of Matthew 6:19-21, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

I have always been challenged by the statement, "Life is a dressing room for eternity."

Everything we do and say, either builds for this world, or for the eternal world.

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Last night, I watched a documentary on TV about the Air India flight 182 that was blown up by terrorists in 1985, killing all 331 people on board the aircraft. Throughout the documentary, people who lost their loved ones in that terrorist attack talked about the final moments that they had spent with their wives, husbands, and children. It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch and I sat in stunned silence throughout the whole hour and a half.

The fragility of life... None of those people knew that their days on earth were coming to an end. Their families remembered them for who they had been and how they had lived their lives.

A few days ago, I received an email from a friend asking for prayer for a family who lost a husband and father of three (one child yet unborn) in a tragic accident on a highway in BC. My friend and her family had been with them just hours before the accident happened. Reading my friend's email brought tears to my eyes even though I did not know this family.

The fragility of our lives... It is held in the hand of God. He knows the number of our days as He has already written them, but we really only know this moment for certain. I don't mean to be morbid but how can that not make you think about how you spend those moments?

My friend wrote this about the 4 year old daughter of the man who died in the car accident... "Ella, their daughter, is so amazing. When she was told that her dad had died, she said that she understood that everyone was broken and that daddy was broken so badly that they couldn't fix him. But she was worried about who would share Jesus with the Young Life kids ... kind of makes you think of your life's perspective."

We brought nothing into this world, and we will carry nothing out... we will only take what we lay up in heaven. We're either building for this world, which will not last, or for eternity, which will have no end. If I'm completely honest with myself, which kingdom am I building?