Every day we face similar choices and we ask ourselves the
questions, "Do I act on impulse or do I exhibit self control?" "Do I indulge in the moment or do I
delay some pleasure now so that I can enjoy a greater pleasure later?"
This matter has implications in all areas of our life, but
certainly there is a spiritual component to this question as well. Jesus and the other New Testament writers
repeatedly taught that there is something beyond this world, some greater pleasure
awaiting us. A second marshmallow, so to speak. They most often refer to this greater pleasure as heaven. Part of
that teaching seems to be that in order to enjoy the greater pleasure, two marshmallows,
we have to resist to some degree the lesser pleasure, one marshmallow. The bottom line is whether we will live for
now or live for later.
Many times we choose to live for now, and that makes a lot
of sense. Living for now is easy (it requires
no discipline) and the reward is immediate (and we all are fond of immediate gratification).
Even
though we often live for now, experience and wisdom teaches us that living for
now is not always the best choice. In fact, I would say it is seldom the best
choice. It especially is not the best
choice when it comes to life altering choices. How many people have you met
that at the end of their life said something like, "I'm sure glad I acted
impulsively all my life"?
If living for now is not the best choice, then what are the
merits for living for later? If I have
to exert self-control and delay gratification there has to be some good reason
for doing that. I believe that living
for later has merit in so many areas of our life - from athletics, to education,
to relationships, to just about anything we want to excel at. Living for later is a prime contributor to
success and satisfaction in almost every facet of life. But I want us to focus on the spiritual
merits.
The biblical description of later (heaven) leaves no doubt
that living for it is the far better option for at least these two
reasons: later is longer and later is
better. Any pleasure now has an expiration
date. The pleasure of later will never expire.
Any pleasure now, regardless of how pleasurable it is, cannot compare to
pleasure of later. I know that's hard to
believe, but the Bible is clear - heaven (later) is better than now
(earth). Far better. Infinitely better. So much better it is worth the wait; worth
any sacrifice; worth any sense of self-deprivation.
We're all living the experiment. We're all at the table and
all us face the choice. And as we
contemplate between the pleasure of now and the pleasure of later Jesus leaves us
with this vital question: "What do
you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?"
