We're on an Elevator

One of our amazing teachers here at NTBI used an analogy in class that really made me view this life in a way that I never had before.

Imagine that we are on an elevator. The elevator is this life.

We get on on the first floor, and start going up. 

Eventually the doors will open, and we will get off. 

We will all die, and we will all enter eternity.

Even if the elevator is in a very tall skyscraper, the elevator ride is still very short. It is a temporary trip.

So think about it...

When we are on an elevator, do we worry about the ugly wallpaper in it? The paint color? The music? The carpet? Do we try to set up a little kingdom for ourselves in the corner of the elevator? Do we try to hoard money on the elevator? Do we fret and worry if there is an annoying person who gets on the elevator with us? Do we stress over what the other people in the elevator think about us?

The obvious answer is no. We do not think much of anything about the elevator trip itself, because we know that it is temporary. Our minds are on our destination. The very reason we got on the elevator in the first place is to reach that destination. For believers, that destination is heaven. For eternity.

We are all currently on the elevator, and we may be almost to our floor. God is the One who opens the doors for us all at our appointed time of death, and it is never a floor too early or too late. Some of us may make it to floor 20, while others may ride all the way up to floor 100. Comparatively, though, all elevator rides are short, no matter how many floors we go.

What are we doing on the elevator right now that will matter when it is time for us to get off? Are we doing things to further the kingdom of God? Sharing the gospel with those who have never heard? Making disciples of all nations? Giving our money away? Loving our neighbor? Teaching and training our children to love and fear the Lord? Because those are things that will last into eternity. 

Or are we busy doing things to enhance our elevator trip experience? Are we busy trying to make our elevator into a comfortable home for ourselves when we know full well it is just a fleeting, short trip? How silly to bring furniture, appliances, and storage containers into an elevator and begin to think of it as our permanent home.

Let's view this life for what it really is. A temporary trip that will very soon be over. 

Because we're all on an elevator together, and the doors are going to open shortly. How amazingly awesome that we will someday very soon--maybe today--be stepping into eternity.