ETERNITY IN MY HEART

Ecc.3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Our church has performed a production called Beyond the Grave since October 1999. Thousands have come to see it and thousands have had a life changing encounter with the Lord at BTG. The amazing thing is that most of the actors are untrained teens, the props and special effects are minimal at best but crowds of people keep coming to each performance. I have scratched my head many times in these last 25 years wondering what has captured the imagination of so many. The conclusion I have come to is found in today’s verse, every human has a taste of eternity in their heart, that is what it means to be created in the image of God. Beyond the Grave is about life after death; where will you spend eternity?
The production is based on the numerous classroom shootings that have haunted our nation since 1999. The question posed by this is this; if you were to die suddenly and unexpectedly would you be ready for what’s next? Here are some thoughts from the ESV Study Bible followed by the Fire Bible.

“Despite the repetitiveness of the natural world, the Preacher (Solomon) can see that God has made everything beautiful in its time. The problem is that God has also placed eternity (that is, a sense that life continues beyond this present existence) into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. The word “find,” or “find out” has the sense of “figure out, comprehend by study” in this verse and other places in the book. The Preacher thus realizes that both his desire to understand all of life, as well as the limitations on his ability to do so, have been ordained by God.”

Fire Bible

“God has placed within each person an inborn desire for something beyond our earthly existence. Deep inside, human beings want to live forever in peace. They want to find lasting value in the world and the activities of life; they want to be a part of something with eternal meaning. That is why material things, worldly activities and the pleasures of earth will never fully satisfy.”

Having eternity in your heart doesn’t mean you are ready for eternity, fallen man is not ready to be in the presence of our holy God. Having eternity in your heart means that nothing less than the eternal God can satisfy your longing for pleasure, the kind of pleasure only Jesus can give you. Maybe that is what is troubling you, that eternity thing. You know in your heart its time to make peace with God.