Endgame: Live today with eternity in mind

My dad recently taught my youngest son to play chess. Tyler, my youngest is pretty good at it. He caught on quickly.

I’m no chess player. However, I can really bring it when playing checkers. I love checkers.

No matter what you are playing — chess, checkers or basketball, you have to have the endgame in mind. You must know where you’re headed and be strategic with every move you make if you hope to arrive at your desired end.

Life is the same way.

Difference between our endgame in chess and our endgame in life is, we don’t get to choose our endgame. That’s our creator’s job. And our creator, God, says eternity in heaven is our end game. But, I wonder, are we being strategic in making sure we reach the desired end?

I’ve been reading through the book of Revelations lately and WOWZA.

If I’m honest, you should know that Revelations is a book I try to avoid. It can be deep and confusing for my tiny mind, so I don’t read it nearly enough.

But, in my attempt to leave each of my kiddos a Bible full of my thoughts and notes, I am reading through Revelations with the help of my favorite commentator. As I read through each scripture in Revelations, I can’t help but think about our endgame a little more.

It has challenged me to fix my focus on the author and finisher of my faith (Hebrews 12:2). Revelations reminds me that there is more to life than being successful on earth, more than fame or fortune; there is more to life than me.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” — Revelation 1:8 (CSB)

We translate Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. God is creator, he gave us a beginning, and he is also the author and finisher of our faith, our end. We have the chance to live eternity with him.

Revelation is clear there will be an end; God has an endgame for us.

Are we living our life now with the endgame in mind? If I live my life based on eternity in heaven, I’ll not be easily disappointed and always find hope amid the circumstances of life.

The promise of eternity brings more hope than my successes ever will.

Friend, our endgame is heaven. Are you ready for it? Are you living for it?

How we respond to Jesus here proves our response then. If we can’t live for him now, how can we live an eternity with him then?

Don’t wait. Start today.

There is coming a day when Jesus will return, and I promise you, you will not want to miss it.

Just as there is a promise of eternity in heaven, which is God’s desire for all people, there is also the promise of death and hell for those who refuse to know him and live for him.

I challenge you, live today with the endgame of eternity in mind.