“By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he was grown up. He chose to be mistreated with God’s people instead of having the temporary pleasures of sin. He thought that the abuses he suffered for Christ were more valuable than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking forward to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26, CEB).

A few years ago I wrote a book entitled, The Kingdom Order: Living for the Future in the Present.  It took me 12 chapters and about 250 pages in the book to make the same point about the Christian life that the Hebrews writer makes in these 3 verses describing the godly legacy of Moses.

Like Moses, Christians live life by looking forward to their reward–living forward!

Human beings were created for eternal life! God created people for eternity and eternity is ever present in the life we now live.

So, when you follow Jesus, you start to live life life forward…

When you are living forward, your life is no longer dominated by the pleasures or hardships of this world or even by the expectation of your impending death; rather your life is now occupied with the hope of eternal life in the world to come.

The challenge for Christians, as it was with Moses, is to learn how to live life forward, to learn how to live your life with one foot in eternity and one foot in this present world.

When you live forward, you live your life in the present to prepare you for your life in the future. Because, what is true in the present is the beginning of what will be true in the future.

We are living for a future hope through our present reality.

And, what you do with your present life matters because all that you do by faith in Christ in the present will be transformed and made new and perfect for eternity.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. (Revelation 21:1-3, CEB)