There are believers worldwide – yes, believers in the Loch Ness Monster. Many travel to Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands, hoping to get a glimpse of the fabled monster affectionately known as Nessie. Sightings of the mammoth creature cannot be confirmed; the evidence seems purely anecdotal. As early as the seventh century, there have been reports of a monster in the area of Loch Ness, but again, credible eyewitness accounts seem to be lacking. Nevertheless, the alleged myth lives on.
Something is reported to be inside every human being that has never been picked up by sophisticated medical scanning devices or seen during open heart surgery. Laboratory technologists have not been able to isolate the eternity factor in the human heart. And yet, there is every reason to believe it exists during a person’s lifetime.
Unlike Nessie, there is indisputable documentation to prove its existence —an enduring and credible record that contains a statement of fact. Here it is:
He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11
In addition to God’s written Record, countless testimonials across all sectors of society point to the eternity factor in the human heart. People do their best to deny the existence of the inner search for the eternal and a built-in thirst for God. They label the uniquely human phenomenon in many ways but refuse to call it for what it truly is.
Lives filled and overflowing with fame, fortune, pleasure and success still crave something more. People who have reached the top still speak of the inner void, the emptiness, the longing, the yearning for something profound inside that, as yet, has never been filled and a need that has never been met. Out of frustration, disappointment, disillusionment and desperation, sometimes people contemplate the cessation of their lives.
God wired human beings utterly different than the rest of His creation in at least one critical area — and that is the consciousness of God and the capacity to enjoy an eternal relationship with Him.
We often speak of the eternity factor to those who are still in their sins — those who have no relationship with God and are heading toward a lost eternity. But what about the eternity factor in your own life? As Christians, we can energetically, even enthusiastically fill our lives with selfish pursuits and time-specific modest luxuries, but unsurprisingly, when God fails to rank 1st in our lives, we too experience a certain sense of discontentment, dissatisfaction, barrenness and emptiness.
The most contented Christians and the most joyful believers are those who are very conscious of eternity and are living their days in light of it. Despite the staggering number of trials the Apostle Paul had – he was constantly mindful that he was running a race and looking forward to the finish line. He understood the finish line down here was really the starting line for the eternal ages. At one point he wrote the Corinthian believers and said:
“We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is not seen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. So we make it our goal to please Him…for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 5:9-10
Are you restless and unfulfilled? Are you constantly hoping things will improve and you will be more satisfied in life? Are you finding that joy in your life is non-existent or, at best, elusive? Are you still searching for satisfaction? Two possibilities exist:
- The eternity factor in my life has never been truly linked to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am still in my sins or,
- I have been inseparably linked with God through Christ, but I have lost focus and each day is being filled and flooded with short-lived temporary pursuits, leaving me with a very blurred focus on that which is eternal.
Would you allow this reminder of eternity to speak to your heart and do what needs to be done and change what needs to be changed? The unseen eternity is real, for sure. The Loch Ness monster probably is not.
“Lord, I confess I get distracted far too often. I confess I have been living for time and for self. My energies are being consumed on the temporary. I confess my sin. Humbly today, I ask for Your help to refocus my life on Christ and the eternal.”
Don’t hesitate to share a thought from your personal experience or a verse that has been a blessing to you – in the comment section below. Or, if you would like to reach out privately, click below.
