People are expecting to live longer and healthier lives than ever before. Baby boomers are reaching retirement age in record numbers. Retirement communities in warm climates are experiencing real estate booms.
Ideally, it would be nice for retirees to have saved enough money to be able to enjoy such things as a comfortable home in a pleasant climate, health insurance and top-notch doctors working in modern medical facilities, and leisure activities such as sports, hobbies, arts and crafts, or travel. Ideally they will retire in good health and with a network of family and friends to supply support and company.
Health, wealth, family and friends are all gifts from God. However, they are not His most important gifts. He has gifts far more important and long-lasting. Take the gift of “eternal life,” for instance. God sent His Son into the world: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Just think for a moment what it cost God to offer the gift of eternal life to this world! The Son of God left the glories of heaven and came to this earth to be born in a manger. At the age of thirty He took up His public ministry and traveled incessantly through the country of Israel, healing the sick and preaching the gospel to the poor. After three and a half years of self-denying service, He was taken by men who hated Him because of envy. They arranged to have Him condemned to death. Roman soldiers took Him to a hill called “Calvary,” on the outskirts of Jerusalem. They fastened Him to a cross by pounding nails through His feet and hands. Then they hoisted the cross up and dropped it into a hole in the ground so that it stood upright. There were crowds of men watching the spectacle, and they mocked and taunted Him, saying, “If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
For six excruciating hours He suffered on the cross. Every breath He took was pure torture, as He had to pull Himself up against the nails piercing His hands and feet to expand His diaphragm and draw air into His lungs. But the real depth of His suffering on the cross wasn’t physical; it was spiritual. In the last three hours on the cross the sky was darkened and God’s awful wrath against sin fell on His beloved Son. “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)). The depth of His suffering, when He was made sin for us, no human being will ever be able to fathom. Hear His anguished cry: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:3434And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mark 15:34)).
Do you know why He was forsaken? He was forsaken because He was bearing the heavy load of our sins so that all that would believe on Him might go free and not bear the punishment their sins deserve. He gave His life at Calvary so that sinners who deserve to die might instead receive the gift of eternal life.
Beware! What men consider ideal retirement may well be a gently sloped road to a lost eternity. The ideal conditions for retirement—health, wealth and leisure—are also well suited for the work of the enemy of man’s soul. Satan knows he has the best chance of keeping souls in the dark about the Savior when they are traveling down a smooth road in life without any potholes, sharp curves or signposts which might cause them to think seriously about their relationship with their Creator. If Satan can get them to the end of life’s road without coming to the Savior, he has a terrible surprise waiting for them. He will have succeeded in his mission, for he knows they will be shut out of God’s presence forever in a place called hell. This malicious, powerful being hates everything God loves, and He does all he can to keep men and women from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.
By God’s grace, won’t you shake off the tunnel vision that views this life as the be-all and end-all of existence, and realize your need of eternal life and the Savior? What will you do with Christ? Your eternity depends on your answer.