“Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.” (Jonathan Edwards, Resolution 9)
This sounds so morbid to many in our day, but this is actually a very practical thing to do. While many speak of financial, estate, and all sorts of planning today, the most important issue is eternal planning. No matter the problems that a person has in this life, those problems will be left when he or she enters eternity. All of life’s problems pale in light of eternity. In one sense, then, to think much of death is to see the importance of life. Thinking of the occasion of death sharpens the sense of how one is to live in this life. This is to take an eternal view of life. What is important in terms of eternity?
Richard Baxter has written that when one dies his friends will scramble for his possessions, the worms for his body, and the devils for his soul. When one thinks of death all of those things come into sharp focus. What is the use of hoarding wealth and piling up material possessions? They will be left someday and all that a person has may be like fool’s gold. Man has been created to live to the glory of God in all that he does. But if man spends his time gathering possessions, when he enters eternity it will all have been fool’s gold. While on earth those possessions appeared as real and valuable, but in the light of eternity those things will be seen for what they are. We should spend our time and efforts at developing treasures in heaven where they last for eternity and not on earth where they last but for a very short time.
Many people spend huge amounts of money and time in order to eat well. Others spend huge amounts of money and time on physical fitness. Still others spend huge amounts of money on their hair and body in order to appear beautiful. The eternal view is that all of that money and time are being spent for worm food. True beauty is of the inward person and that is the beauty that God loves. We should spend times on getting our souls beautiful and into condition since they will last into eternity and the body lasts but a vapor of time on earth. Meditating on eternity brings a crash into reality of how we should view the body and how we spend our time. But, some say, my physical condition honors God. Perhaps, but how do we know that? Does Scripture instruct us to spend a lot of money and time doing that? Rather it tells us that “bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (I Tim 4:8). This does not inform us that some exercise is of no profit, but that bodily exercise is of little profit when compared to godliness. We should exercise our souls unto godliness if we have the eternal view. “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness (I Tim 4:7).
The eternal view looks at the soul and where it will reside for eternity. The soul is either housed in the body on earth for as long as the body will live and then it goes into a state in eternity that it will be forever and forever. The eternal view looks at the home of the soul in the long range view and decides to live according to that. While I am putting these things out in terms of self-interest, the real issue is love for God and living for His glory. Those who live this life in terms of wealth and health are in reality choosing self over God and that is idolatry. People must understand that no matter how much money they have they will die and it will do them no good at all. They must understand that no matter how great their health is, they may die very soon of disease or accident. The soul is what the devils will come for when a person dies.
Edwards’ resolution actually displays great wisdom. It looks upon eternity and brings all other things into connection with that. The person that meditates on eternity will not often be deceived into idolatry of temporal things. Perhaps we should add that meditation in and of itself is not as helpful as it might be unless we pray that the Lord would give us a sight of eternity and the weight of what it is. If man could only have the weight of eternity on his soul he would be a different person. In times of revival in the past people spoke of the weight of eternity coming down and things of this world appearing as nothing. A sense of the weight of eternity gives us great wisdom.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment