"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" - Mark 10:17

Eternal life is our most important objective, as long as it starts today and doesn't reach too long into the future.  So many of us make deals with the future.  If I can just have this now, I'll do that then.  Buy now, pay later, put it on my spiritual credit card, I'll pay it off monthly later or at least I'll pay the interest.  Eternity doesn't come later; it comes now.  Eternity has that big sound, like a thunderstorm that will come later in the day or something grand that is just beyond our reach.  The truth about eternity is that it is connected to now.  There is no later when it comes to eternity.  It is not a bargain nor can it be postponed.  So how do we have eternal life today?  Especially as we run out to collect our paycheck, shop for bargains, stretch our resources so they will last, avoid costs?  Are we “postponers” of the important on behalf of the immediate?  Jesus said, watch out for wealth.  It can get in your way.  He also was no fan of poverty and he fed the poor and met the fugitive with bread.  You figure it out.  But figure now, not later.  What is important is already here.

Prayer:  Show me what I must do, O God. And then give me eternal life.