Do you want to live forever?
I don’t think the question is so much whether or not one wants to live forever, but in what state they would want to live even for five more minutes. Who would want to go on forever if they’re victims of depression who struggle even to look forward to tomorrow? Pain can turn minutes into hours, but mental anguish can turn seconds into Hell.
So, it begs the question, in what state will we persist? Will it be a suffering five minutes, or of peace and joy?
I’ve heard many people say they wouldn’t want to live forever, because they think it would get boring; a tragic impression to have, which is surely the result of living in a culture that is all about entertainment and constant stimulation. They’ve been conditioned to associate pleasure with fulfillment. They’ve learned to live solely for themselves and not for any greater good that is beyond themselves. Man used to live for God.
As the saying goes, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, they just don’t want God to be there when they get there.” If left in our current state, there would exist an unbearable emptiness within men’s souls for all eternity. That is what causes the depression; the innate desire to experience pleasure in an attempt to fill that void; to be entertained and constantly distracted from the creeping feeling of the cold grip of nothing that inhabits the darkest corners of our minds; to prefer death over the bottomless sadness and fear dwelling in our hearts. That is what heaven without God is like. That is the “heaven” we have already created here on earth.
But with hope filling our hearts instead of doubt, and with faith ruling us instead of fear, our inner state would then be as God intended. If we trudge with hardened soles down the stone-laid road to carve a righteous path for those who come after us, then we are living for more than today already. Lord willing, we will be granted life not just for the sake of living longer, but will be counted worthy of everlasting glory in His very Presence.
That’s what I want.
Blackletter 