Hard hat area.

 Vance Havner, in his typically pithy style, famously said, "Salvation is a helmet, not a nightcap!" As both a preacher and brother in Christ, He knew how to "get under the hide" of others, and God used him to wake up many Christians from apathy.  One of his consistent themes was that Christians look to take it easy and give their souls an easy ride, but that will be the last thing you will want to have done when eternity comes. 

An old hymn says this...

My soul, be on your guard;

Ten thou­sand foes arise;

The hosts of sin are press­ing hard

To draw you from the skies.

O watch, and fight, and pray;

The bat­tle ne’er give o’er;

Renew it bold­ly ev­ery day,

And help di­vine im­plore.

Ne’er think the vic­to­ry won,

Nor lay your ar­mor down;

The work of faith will not be done,

Till you ob­tain the crown.

Fight on, my soul, till death

Shall bring thee to your God;

He’ll take you, at your part­ing breath,

To His di­vine ab­ode.

The Christian is saved for a purpose. Not to enjoy the view here and now, but to prepare ourselves and others for the certainty to come. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-18 reminds us not to find ourselves in our spiritual pyjamas when the reality of eternity arrives, not to be complacent as if we have already arrived in heaven ("fallen asleep"), but to make the most of the days with industry for the gospel whilst we can.  Far too many Christians live in the contentment of their forgiven sin and the solidity of God's grace, without computing the implications of that for our daily routines and practices. Cheap grace is when we rest on his forgiving sacrifice as an insurance policy for the afterlife without it being the foundation of each moment of our lives. In short, the Christian should not live as if our lives and God's sanctifying work, missional work, and sovereign work in us for us are already completed, nor live synchronistically to those around us who seek comfort and hedonism as if this world is all that there is. 

The world is not in a good place, and we are not in a good place when we synchronise to it. 

I'm so glad this world is not all there is. How depressing that would be. Technological "advances" talk about AI getting ahead of us, but whilst AI runs ahead, we are morally disintegrating as societies and running well behind the moral curve and character of God.  Whilst mankind sets up a technological framework to look to the future, it still struggles to work in the relational one we have in place now.  The fruit we produce from full lives is stinky and rotten; it does not satisfy but makes us feel sick. This can also be true of God's people (Isaiah 5), when we as a corporate entity live for the comfort of a church ghetto in a broken world. We are here to work for eternity. We are to do it together for His glory. The reality of His Holiness, character and sacrificial redemption wakes us up to what real life is all about. We are here to demonstrate the character of God and his transformation of us through countercultural love, informed living as we prepare for the awesome reality of time being wrapped up. (1 Thess 4:16-18). True living is being in Christ,  and with Christ.  

Whoever has the Son has life; 

Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:12

Wake up in the here and now.  Prepare for our eternal time with Christ. 

It doesn't matter what technological advances we can make; we can never stop the clock from ticking. One in one will still die, and God will appoint a time for each of us to meet Him. At that second, nothing artificial, whether "intelligent" or not, will change our reality from standing before our Maker and giving account for our lives. 

As I look at my life, the busyness, the compactness of those families around me trying to cram as much life into one day as they can, I ask myself, am I truly living in accordance with God's purposes now?  Part of living in God's plans is resting in his presence, and meditating on him, spending time with him now.  

• We do not "live" more simply by entertaining ourselves with this world more. Christians should be marked by demonstrating that we don't need to do that. God gives us good things to enjoy, but they do not constitute what life is all about, define for us the essence of living, or be our constant focus, appetite and priority.
• We do not "live" by being consumed by our own desires and introspection. No one will be introduced to Christ and find life in him if all believers live for themselves and as if this world is all that there is.  True living in Christ introduces others to the same life in him. There is no greater joy in life. 
• We do not find true living in a self-contained bubble of individualism. Taking my wife out yesterday, I met a man on the adjacent table who routinely walks with his dog to the same coffee shop/restaurant every Saturday morning and buys for himself the biggest breakfast they offer. He eats about 20% of it. The sausages, bacon, and hash browns go to his golden cocker spaniel, who sits expectantly for the whole duration with him. He opened up about the futility of it all. He was wealthy, intelligent, but lonely,  feeling the pointlessness of it, and observing the ever-increasing size of his beloved (and still very cute) pet. His dog was full, he was very evidently empty. There must be more to life than "a full English".  The dog may feel he is living "life to the full", but for humans, Jesus has a much greater answer. (John 10:10)

 JESUS SAYS “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30