The Long Game: Living for What Lasts

As believers, we're not just living for today—we're living for eternity. The Christian journey is one with a clear destination: heaven. Everything we do here is staging—preparation for the life that truly matters, the one that comes after this.

 

If that's true (and it is), then it's worth pausing to reassess our focus. How are you living today? Are your daily choices shaping the kind of eternity you hope for?

 

Let's break it down. 

 

Most of us, if we're blessed, get about 100 years on this earth—that's 10 decades. Typically, each decade brings a different focus: childhood, education, building a career, starting a family, finding purpose, and growing in wisdom. But when you look back at the decades you've already lived, can you say you've used each phase well in preparing for what comes after?

 

The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Philippians 3:14:

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

 

Think of it like saving in jars—you set something aside now because you're planning for something greater in the future. Our lives are no different. We're called to prepare—daily and deliberately—for eternity.

 

Every day you wake up is another chance to make better choices. Sometimes, those choices feel like losses in the short term. But over time, they become gains. 

 

I started noticing this some years ago. It was like the principle of "you reap what you sow" went into overdrive. I could trace the good fruit from wise decisions, and the not-so-great outcomes from not-so-great ones. That realization made me reflect: Am I storing enough treasure in heaven's jar? Am I investing in eternity?

 

Jesus says it plainly in Matthew 6:19 -21

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

 

When we live with heaven in view, our lives on earth begin to look different, in the best way. We'll give more and hoard less. We'll forgive more quickly, support more freely, and serve more joyfully. Every act of love, obedience, generosity, or faith plants another pebble in our heavenly jar. That's how our temporary lives take on eternal value.

 

So, if you know this life is fleeting, what will you do differently?

• What are you focusing on?
• What words are you speaking over yourself and others?
• How are you living in a way that builds toward the eternal?

 

Let your life today be an offering that points to heaven. Because this—right now—is the long game. And eternity is the prize.