Should Your Future Affect Your Present?

July, 2003

by: John Richard

Imagine what it would be like to be the perfect husband and father. You would never lose your temper, you would constantly do the right thing for your wife at all times, immediately and joyfully completing your 'honey–do' list, and you would also never be lazy, always watching what she wants to see and listening to what she wants to hear. Furthermore, as a dad, you would always respond properly to your children and you would always train them in the admonition of the Lord. You could honestly wear a shirt that said, “#1 dad”.

What if you actually were able to look into the future and see yourself as this husband and dad? Would it inspire you? Would you be motivated to strive to be perfect now, because you saw what the finished product looked like? Witnessing great skill and accomplishment motivates many people, but once they try to do the same, they never make it through the hills of work. They stop on the first precipice, never making it over any other mountains on the way to greatness. They would rather take the easy way out. Tragically, this describes the lives of many believers who don't work hard at glorifying the Lord in their lives. My hope is that all of you who are reading this article will tenaciously follow Christ. In order to facilitate this goal, we are going to look at what you will become in the future, so you may strive to be that person presently.

What will you be like? Romans 8:29 states that the Lord “predestined [believers] to become conformed to the image of His Son.” Believers will be like the Lord one day. You will be like Him both bodily (Phil. 3:21) and spiritually. “You will not become deity, but your incorruptible body will be infused with the very holiness of Christ, and we will be both outwardly and inwardly perfect, just as our Lord” (MacArthur, Romans 1-8, 492). Another passage, which highlights what you will be is Ephesians 1:4. “You will be holy and blameless before Him.” Even though believers are positionally right before the Lord, they are not perfect in their practice. Some day they will be holy and blameless in their practice. If you are a believer, your future is holiness, perfection and righteousness. But what effect does that have on you presently?

Well, the question that needs to be asked and answered by you is would you enjoy being holy? If you don't enjoy turning away from sin — actually enjoying indulging in it — then why would you want to go to heaven, since there will be no sin there to indulge in? God saved us to be zealous for good works (Titus 2:14) and everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:3). If you truly know what your future is going to be like (and you do), then pursue to be that now. Pursue to be like Chris t now, for that is what believers will be like in the future.