Why Think it Doesn’t Matter When it Matters in Eternity?

Mr. Emmanuel woke up with a startle, suddenly jolted to life with what seemed like a lump in his chest. He felt restless, tossing from one side of the bed to the other, thoroughly bereft of ideas of what to do to ease himself from the uneasiness that was fast becoming his companion.

He thought of what to do, he tried prayer as was his usual practice, but that was an effort in futility, as he couldn’t bring himself to mutter anything in prayer.

He was completely lost as to what to say. He knew that feeling, it was his usual experience whenever he was out of terms and tunes with God.

Having tried all his usual methods of praying, reading his Bible, and going through his social media news feed and failed, Emmanuel knew it was time to try something different.

He finally settled for retrospective thinking. After some minutes of fruitless mind search, being a ‘serious’ Christian, he eventually decided to engage the Holy Spirit, his best Friend.

He had always come to the rescue in times like this. As if in a flash, he saw the image of what had transpired the previous day before his bedtime came rushing back to him as if it was an unfolding scenario.

He had been writing an online exam that evening for a major course certification in his career line.

The questions were too unfamiliar, though he thought he was well prepared for them, but alas, how wrong he was! Failure stared him in the face.

As the time waned on, he made a last-gasp attempt to salvage what was left of his self-evaluated honour, and settled for copying the answers through search engines, disregarding the clear instructions not to receive help from ANY source by the examination body.

“Does it matter if I get the answers elsewhere? After all, the body is not on a close monitoring of the exam,” he thought to himself.

He finished the examination and submitted. He got the certificate he wanted, but was left with dissatisfaction. No matter what he did, that feeling just won’t go away.

Now that he thinks of it, he knew it was really foolish of him. He had a spiritual Google he could have deployed, but he chose to rely on his own wisdom, and that displeased his Master.

“Why think it doesn’t matter when it matters in eternity?” The answer to the question he posed to himself earlier came to him now without really thinking about it.

He tried to double check to be sure his mind wasn’t playing a prank on him, but he knew that method too well, this was clearly no mind speaking but rather the Holy Spirit.

It was the beginning of a long dealing. That decision was highly regretted now and it was time for him to learn the lessons.

Like Mr. Emmanuel in the story above, many Christians have been found in compromising positions and acts, because to them, it doesn’t really matter. It has become a norm with them.

They cheat, lie, misrepresent people and facts, yet think it doesn’t matter just because no man comes up to immediately challenge them.

They often think of what could be lost if they fail to do certain things, but if only they would take a critical look, they would have discovered they had overblown the feeling of loss they could impose on themselves and underestimate the loss of spiritual losses.

By failing to stop to think of what Heaven would think, many Christians, like Emmanuel, have gone on to exaggerate the present loss above the eternal.

By choosing to go for the present pleasure without considering the eternal consequences on their souls and its relationship with God, they stand the chance of losing the reward of years of consecration, howbeit, for minute things that wouldn’t have killed in the present.

This cause of Emmanuel’s restlessness and inability to pray or be at ease wouldn’t have been limited to only the few inconveniences he felt, it would have extended to loss of a place in Heaven and his reward for all the years of toiling and denial of momentary pleasure.

What was more, he had caused it himself, or better put, it could have been avoided.

If it could stop him from praying or easiness, don’t you think it can deny him of Heaven? Any heaviness at all can stop a man from flying in the Rapture.

Don’t take that decision that could set you up against God, no matter how little it might seem. If it in anyway unsettles you, it could unseat you before God.

It might not matter now, but be sure it matters greatly in eternity.

Be heaven-conscious. Don’t kill your eternity with a momentous satisfaction that its deprivation can’t kill you. Even if it would, choose God at all times, choose the choice of God always.

Emmanuel F. Olaofe

(Freewealth)