Among the greatest failures of leadership is restricting our forethought to our own expected lifespans. If what we do and what we invest ourselves in now will not affect eternity, why bother with it today? Beyond the horizon stands the eternal Day. Let us prepare our plans accordingly. 

In this light, my bride and I will celebrate her birthday by taking a hike. This will include breakfast burritos, coffee, water bottles, snacks, brown-bag lunches, and a sumptuous dinner to top it all off. Yesterday’s storms have passed leaving a most beautiful morning in their wake. 

The two preceding paragraphs are not incongruous. 

This week, my bride and I took time to help our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter with a problem that popped up. Our granddaughter’s daycare was closed because several workers came down with COVID. My bride and I stepped in and helped the best we could to provide care during our granddaughter’s waking hours. This was a little bit of heaven on earth.

Parents want God’s best for our children, grandchildren, and the following generations. We turn these desires into actions by living and serving well now. We do this by preparing them for all that lies before them. 

We make wills, buy life insurance, set up savings accounts, invest in savings bonds, and so much more. Best of all, we demonstrate what love for a lifetime looks like. For forty-one years, I have loved the woman sleeping in on this Saturday morning in the bedroom next door. One of the best investments I can make in the generations to come is to love her well. I’m all in.

God is love (1 John 4:16-19). Knowing and experiencing that love is never an exclusive arrangement. Those who receive this love beyond all loves simply must allow it to overflow into the lives of others, especially those closest to us. 

Hezekiah did a lot of things right. See his story in 2 Kings 18-20. He failed, however, when he made the mistake of living for the day instead of living for the ages. If The Bee Gees were ever right about anything, it was when they sang, “Nobody gets too much heaven no more.” ([https://bit.ly/3NpkuSa])

How do we get a little more heaven here on earth? We can pray as Jesus instructed us:

May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We can sleep late on a Saturday, breakfast on fun food, take a hike, enjoy a nap, dine with the ones we most love, and write notes showing those who come behind us how to live a life for the ages by living today in the light of all eternity. 

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I will take a hike with my bride as we walk with Jesus together.

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Our Father, empower us to live this day in the light of eternity. May we overflow with your perfect love for one another and into the lives of everyone we encounter along our journey today. Thank you for a hand to hold as we stroll. Thank you for hearts filled to overflowing. Thank you for the opportunity to do something right and good for those we love most. Amen.