Topic: Spend Your Life Getting Ready for Eternity [RICK WARREN Devotional 21 february   2023]

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Spend Your Life Getting Ready for Eternity

BY RICK WARREN — FEBRUARY 21, 2023
FROM THE LIFE YOU WERE MEANT TO LIVE

“Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us . . . His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us.”

Ephesians 1:4-5 (TLB)

To get ready to be used by God, the first thing you need to do is understand the purpose of your life.

The Bible makes God’s purpose for you very clear: “Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us . . . His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us” (Ephesians 1:4-5 TLB).

God made you to be part of his family. He made you so he could have a relationship with you—to love you and to be loved in return. But there’s only one way to become part of God’s family: through faith in Jesus Christ.

Not only does God want you to be part of his family but he also wants you to spend eternity with him. Ephesians 1:10 says, “This was his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together . . . to be with him in Christ forever” (TLB).God’s purpose is, first, that you become part of his family and, next, that you get to know him. Then he wants you to spend all of eternity with him.

History is moving toward a climax. One day God will gather everyone who’s put their faith in him, and they will live together with him in heaven.    

Life here on Earth is preparation for eternity. The Bible says that God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV).That means you were made to last forever. You were made for eternity. Every human being is going to live forever in one of two places: with God in heaven or apart from God in hell.

God didn’t create you just for the 80 or 90 or however many years you have on this planet. God has long-range plans for your life. So, what is life on Earth about? It is preparation for eternity. In other words, God is more interested in preparing you for eternity than he is in simply making you happy here and now. Of course, he loves you and wants you to be happy—but not at the expense of your preparation for eternity.

Life is a dress rehearsal; it’s the warm-up act for the big event. You need to get prepared for eternity by getting to know God, becoming more like Jesus, and letting God use you to fulfill his purpose on Earth.

Talk It Over

• Have you taken the step of becoming a member of the family of God? If not, what’s holding you back? If so, what do you understand about your purpose since becoming a believer?
• In what ways have you experienced God using your time on Earth to prepare you for eternity?
• Do you value your character over your happiness? How do you respond when God chooses to build your character through a difficult situation rather than make you happy?

Are you ready to become part of God’s family?

God made you to have a relationship with you—and that relationship starts when you put your faith in Jesus. The Bible says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

If you’re ready to commit your life to him, then pray this prayer:

“Dear God, you have promised that if I believe in your Son, Jesus Christ, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

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