Speaker: Darlene Sala | Series: Encouraging Words | Lying in bed the other night waiting to fall asleep, I got to thinking about eternity.  Pretty heavy subject when you’re supposed to be winding down for the night! I thought how hard it is for us human beings to get a handle on anything that will last forever because everything we see on this earth has an ending point, including our own lives.

Yet, the Bible says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). That’s an amazing promise–eternal life!

How long is eternity anyway?  My husband says when you’re a little kid, eternity is how long the pastor preaches in church before you can get up and go home.  But, seriously, can you visualize eternity? I find it very difficult.  About the closest I can come is the thought found in the last verse of that favorite hymn “Amazing Grace.”  You probably know the words by memory:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.

The promise of living forever with God and our loved ones—never ever to be separated is truly amazing.  Want to be sure you’ll be part of that promise? Just follow the middle part of the Bible verse, John 3:16: “whoever believes in him,” that is, in Jesus, “should not perish but have eternal life.”

Believing in Jesus means that you believe He, God’s Son, paid the price for your sins when He died on the cross, and you put your trust in Him to be your Savior and forgive you of your sins.  And He gives you life with Him for all eternity. It’s that simple. Be sure you don’t miss it!