Eternal Life or Eternal Boredom?

In the Holy Scriptures we hear, over and over, that Christ has promised eternal life. You would think that people would jump at the chance to live forever with God, and yet, many do not. Many would rather continue to live in the sin of the world rather than giving up luxuries. Why give up the comforts of life only to die anyway? Who wants eternal life if it means eternal boredom?

At that time, as Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion answered him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; be it done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Matthew 8.5-13

In today’s Gospel we witness a man of such deep faith, that he doesn’t even want Christ to come to his home to heal servant. “Only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Strong words from a man of the world, and Christ honored his faith publicly. That’s the easy part for me today. What I want to focus on for today’s blog is the next part about weeping and gnashing teeth. It seems to me that many would rather weep and gnash their teeth rather than have the same faith as the centurion. Have you ever asked yourself why?

To have faith enough to trust that ‘just because’ God said it, it would be done, requires no proof, no plan, no preparation, only a few words by God. The centurion understood authority and understood that God had great authority, even enough to “only say the word.” What are some of the other things that God ‘just’ said?

• “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” – Matthew 6.33
• “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” – Matthew 16.25
• “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” – Matthew 10.37

These are just a few examples of things that God ‘just said’ but they affect our entire existence. If we trust that God has the authority to “only say the word,” then wouldn’t it be wise to trust all the things He said about our salvation? Do we want to live with God for eternity, or do we think it would be eternal boredom without our earthly luxuries?

If we have ears to hear the Scriptures, and eyes to see the history of God’s work in the Church, then we know that God has proven on more than one occasion that He has the power to “only say the word” and things happen. Fires have stopped, floods have been turned back, hurricanes have been diverted, lives have been healed. When God says something, He means it.

If all we consider is the boredom that ‘might’ come from living the Christian life now on Earth, then we miss the entire point of the Gospel. The Christian life isn’t boring, it is peaceful. Giving up sin isn’t giving up enjoyment, it is enjoying God’s blessings.  Here’s another thing God ‘just” said.

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

John 5.28-29

We WILL have eternal life. The only question that remains is, will it be eternal life or eternal condemnation?