The Bigger Picture

Take a strand of string and tape one end of it to a football pole.  Now walk across the entire football field with this little strand of string and tie the other end on the other football pole.  This will represent our eternal life.  Now walk all the way back to the middle of the field.  Grab a single blade of grass (if you’re on fake turf then I guess you’re on your own) and tie it around the string.  That single blade of grass will represent our time here on Earth.

 

Just look at it for a while.

 

When compared with our eternal existence, life on Earth doesn’t seem to matter much.  And yet it means so much.  What we do here and now will stand for all of eternity.

 

What can we do to make the most out of it?

 

In the eternities it won’t matter how much money we make, how big our house is, or how many facebook friends we can count.  It won’t matter where we got our degree or how many books we’ve read – or even written!  Every tangible thing that most people chase after in this life will mean next to nothing in the life to come.

 

So what does matter then?

 

While there are many answers to this question, allow me to focus on one: the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Our eternal life with Heavenly Father depends on how we live that gospel; Faith in Jesus Christ.  Repentance.  Baptism.  Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Enduring to the end.  On a single glance, it’s simple and easy.  Like a string that’s as long as a football field.  But when you stop to think about it, you will begin to feel the importance of it.

 

Just think about it for a while.

 

It is only through the power of the atonement any of us will return back to live in God’s presence.  And it is only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can do that.  There are no exceptions, no other way, no open window or back door.  Our own sins are the lock, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the key.  This is a truth that will stand for everyone.

 

And how we live it will stand for all time and eternity.

 

When you put things in that perspective, how important is it that we live this gospel?  How important is it to understand it?  To share it?

 

I am now more personally aware of how I need to reach out to everyone.  This understanding is pushing me forward to do more.  Will you do the same?