Driven by Eternity: Making Your Life Count Today and Forever
Driven by Eternity: Making Your Life Count Today and Forever by John Bevere is aimed to readjust our understanding and our perspective of eternity and the judgment to come. Understanding the difficulty for us to comprehend eternity as it really is, John uses a parable modeled from the teachings of Christ to communicate scriptural truth and implications our actions have in the present for eternity.
In John’s parable, he sets up a Kingdom of Affable with Jalyn the King. People are educated and live in Endel until they are called up, at a time unknown to them, to Affable. How each person spent their time in Endel determines the eternal judgment received by King Jalyn. In Endel, readers will follow a few life stories of Deceived, Faint Heart, Selfish, Independent, Double-Life, and Charity and their proceeding judgment before King Jalyn.
Weaved within the text and parable, John connects truth and scripture to the way believers and those who perceive themselves to be believers view and live out their lives. Much of what John discusses in scripture and the way it is presented is quite sobering and will quickly deepen a personal longing and relationship with the LORD as well as for those within your sphere of influence. I know for me personally, there are scriptures that when it is all pulled together with clear context are quite jilting and terrifying; however, rightly so - the topic is about where one will spend eternity - Heaven or Hell.
It is clear throughout that John’s message is to reveal a sense of urgency and understanding in readers about what scripture really says, what Jesus really taught, and how we must be serious about what that means for the way we live our lives as we seek to be holy as the LORD is holy. Furthermore, John speaks about fearing the LORD rightly and that it is His love that draws us to repentance and obedience.
John is very clear throughout that WORKS do not give or lead to salvation. However, it is by our works that we demonstrate the fruits of the spirit and that we are truly followers of Christ doing as He has commanded us. Additionally, there are parables and scripture where Chris is speaking of servants who do not do the will of the master; thus, there is work we are to be doing as believers. In fact, the LORD has prepared good works in advance that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
Noteworthy Quotes/Mentions:
“It is complete ignorance for a Christian to disdain an individual who has not received Jesus as their Master for his or her lifestyle. This person’s spiritual DNA is to sin, and that is just what he does. What is freaky and completely unnatural is a “believer” who habitually and willfully sins” (78).
Quoting Polycarp, John writes, “He who raised Him up from the dead will also raise us up–if we do His will and walk in His commandments and love what He loves, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness” (95).
“What is the warning? To not drift away from truth, to not be swayed by the message propagated by impostors who seduce not only themselves but countless others from godliness” (98).
“A person who cannot forgive has forgotten how great a debt they were forgiven! When you realize the great death and eternal torment Jesus delivered you from, you will freely release others” (119).
“[...] we will ultimately serve whom we fear. If we fear God, we will obey Him even under pressure; if we fear man, we will yield to man, especially under pressure, and drift toward what benefits our own pleasures or fleshly desires” (129).
“The fear of the Lord is to honor, esteem, value, respect, and reverence Him above anything or anyone else. It is to love what He loves and hate what He hates” (131).
“It is the fear of God that keeps us from drifting back into sin, not the love of God” (133).
“We as believers are to consider the goodness (love) and the severity (judgment) of God. If we do not fear God, we will not continue in His goodness and can be cut off” (135).
“If we are not driven by eternity, we will live and communicate more to benefit this life, instead of seeing life from an eternal perspective” (140).
“In regard to your calling: you’ll not be judged according to what you did, but rather according to what you were called to do!” (202).
“Nothing can come before the will of God if we are going to discover and fulfill His plan for our lives. I’ve seen countless believers who drew back from obedience because of the intent of attending to their priorities first” (218).
“It’s by grace we can do anything of worth in the kingdom. This ability is multiplied in knowing God intimately” (233).
In sharing some of his own struggles, John writes of a time when “I was more focused on being right than I was on the eternal well-being of individuals” (249).
“Will you be a builder or a stumbling block?” (256).
“All it takes is us doing our part and multiplying what He’s entrusted to us. [...] You can succeed by utterly depending on His grace. He is faithful!” (259).
This is one of the most profound books I have read on eternity and judgment, and I highly recommend every believer read this book. We so often and easily give our attention to anything but the eternal and in this book John is reminding us to set our eyes and our mind on heavenly things, to keep our eyes on Christ. To do so requires commitment, diligence, and willingness to self-examine where our affections have drifted and gone astray. He is reminding us to return to our first love and to walk in obedience as He calls each of us.
