A LOOK BACK FROM THE SHORES OF ETERNITY
(By Emerson Blythe)

Imagine for a moment that you have died, and now stand on the shores of eternity.  

As you look back on this world, this life, the things you used to do, and the things you used to own, WHAT WILL YOUR NEW VIEW OF THESE THINGS BE?

Will you still be proud of the same things you are proud of in this life?
Will your values be the same, or will they have changed?
Will the same things be viewed as important that are important now?
Would you want to do the same things you used to do?
If you could come back and re-live some major events of your life, how would they be changed?
What about the activities with other people??
	Would your friends be the same people?
	Would you like to be close to some that you formerly didn't like to be close to?
	Would you spend less time with some that you have been spending a lot of time with?
What about your time?
 	If you could come back to this world, would you live life with more urgency?
	Or, would you be more relaxed and less rushed?
	Would you maybe give more time to some areas, and less to others?
Would your job be as important to you as it is now, or would you maybe devote more to it?
Maybe you would want to spend more time with your family & loved ones.
What about the things you spend money for?
	As you look back, would you spend your money in the same ways,
	or, would you rearrange your spending priorities?
What about the things you have said, or not said?
	Would there be a lot of things in life that you would wish you could erase?
	Or, Would you like to come back and say some things that you have neglected to say?
	Is there somebody you would like to have another chance to tell you love them?
	Is there someone to whom you would like to apologize or say, "I'm Sorry"?
	Would you be proud of the advie you have given, or would you like to take some of it back?
What about the example you left for others... maybe children or friends?
	Would you be proud of the example you have left, 
	or would you wish you could come back and change it?
What about your priorities? 
	Would some things you viewed as important now look foolish in retrospect?
	Would there be things you have neglected you would wish you could make up for?
	If you could look back from eternity, would having things clean, and "made" and kept done 
	 around the house seem as important, or would they pale in comparison to other things?
What about the things you own?
	Would that new car or boat look as important from there as it does from here
What about the things done "with," "for" and "to" your children?
	Would you wish you had taken the time to take them where they wanted to go,
	or do something for them or with them that you never quite got around to?
	What about the goals you set for them?
	Would they be less centered around "things" and more around "people"?
	Would you suddenly remember you forgot to tell them there is more to life than nomey?
	Would your preparation for them have been more "spiritual" and less "material"?

I am sure hind-sight is always 20-20, as they say.  But by using our imagination, and pausing to reflect, it may be that we can gain enough insight to avoid many of the pitfalls in life that we would regret in eternity.

Let us look at two or three stories from the Bible that will help us do that today.

1. THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS.
(Luke 16:19-31)  "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: {20} And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, {21} And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. {22} And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; {23} And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. {24} And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. {25} But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. {26} And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. {27} Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: {28} For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. {29} Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. {30} And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. {31} And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

As the rich man looked back from eternity, don't you think there are a lot of things that he would have changed if he could?  Don't you think his priorities were a lot different?

Would he have been as interested in material wealth?
Maybe he would have put a lot more emphasis on the spiritual.
Don't you think he would have given more to the poor beggar than just crumbs?
Would he not have tried to help him out in his sickness?
Don't you imagine his fine clothing and luxurious life seemed a lot less important from the other
   side?
Don't you think he would have been a lot more concerned with his five brothers.
  And would have thought a lot more of the spiritual than of the material?

(Mat 6:19)  "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."

(Mark 8:36-37)  "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? {37} Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

(Mat 6:33)  "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

2. THE SUCCESSFUL FARMER OF LUKE 12

(Luke 12:16-21)  "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: {17} And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? {18} And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. {19} And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. {20} But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? {21} So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Don't you think as this man looked back from the shores of eternity he would have put more importance on being right with God than on retirement?

Would the corn in the crib look as important from the other side?

(Psa 127:1)  "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

3. THOSE WHO SPURNED THE LORD'S INVITATION OF LUKE 14

(Luke 14:16-24)  "Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: {17} And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. {18} And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. {19} And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. {20} And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. {21} So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. {22} And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. {23} And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. {24} For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper."

The invitation to the Great Supper represents the Lord's invitation. 
As we look back from the shores of eternity, do you think checking out the piece of ground will seem 	as important?
Do you think the five yoke of oxen--the new tractor--will seem as important from the other side?

The occupation, running the farm as a whole, may not seem nearly as important from eternity.

The nagging wife (or husband) that doesn't want us to be a Christian, or to work for the church, may 	not seem nearly as persuasive from the other side.

CONCLUSION:
Friend, how are you living your life today?  Are your priorities straight?  Are you tending to the important things and putting the trivial things on the back burner, where they ought to be? --Or, are you letting the trivial things dominate your life, and leaving the important things undone?

Someone has put it like this: We tend to Major in Minors, and Minor in Majors.

One of the grteatest exercises in helping us to keep our priorities straight, is to think about AFTER DEATH, as we look back from the shores of eternity, how will things look from there?

Is there someone listening to my voice who is not a Christian?  You probably know what the Lord would have you do, and maybe you think one day you will get around to obeying the gospel and getting into the Lord's church.

But what if you die before you get around to it?  How foolish will your procrastination look from the other shore?

Or maybe you are are a member of the church, but you have not been as faithful as you ought to be.  You've been thinking one day you would get back in church and make things right.  But "someday" never comes!

(2 Cor 6:2)  "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

(Isa 55:6-7)  "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: {7} Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

If you are not in the Lord's family, place your faith and trust in Jesus.  Realize He bore your sin on Golgotha. Realize that you don't have to bear that burden any longer. Repent of your sin, or your life of dead works. Confess Jesus before men, and be buried with your Lord in baptism.

If as a wanderer, you need to come back home: we will pray with you and for you. 
(Luke 15:7)  "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

Won't you think seriously about your life, and make Heaven happy by responding, as we stand and sing?