Rewriting Your Broken Storyಮಾದರಿ

Day 3

Planning and Living with the End in Mind

Some of us plan for a two-week vacation better than we plan for the rest of our lives. We understand that our vacation’s destination determines the journey. But isn’t this even more true for our lives?

Søren Kierkegaard had a great idea: define your life backward and then live it forward; determine at the outset where you want to be at the end of your journey.

Likewise, Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says that most successful people make a practice of beginning with the end in mind.

Imagine your earthly life is over. You have nothing but memories behind you and the grave in front of you. Ask yourself, “What would it take for me to look back over my shoulder to my past and say that I lived a satisfied life?”

With the answer to that question, you can plan your journey, preparing with the end in view. Certainly, this is preferable to just hopping in the car. While people have done it (“Come on, kids, get in the car. We’re going on a two-week vacation. We have no idea where we’re going, but it’s going to be great!”), it’s a gamble. And there’s a big difference between gambling with the next two weeks and gambling with the rest of your life.

Why do so many people engage in this lack of planning without seeing how absurd it is? I believe it’s because our destiny and purpose seem so vague and frail to us. We give theologically correct opinions about eternity. We claim to believe in a heaven and a hell. We know that time on earth is brief. And yet, our so-called beliefs have little bearing on how we live. Heaven seems so far in the future that we mistakenly act as if it’s not there at all.

We can lull ourselves into a false sense of security in this world when we act as if what we do on this planet won’t have any bearing on eternity. Scripture invites us to see it otherwise.

Defining Life Backwards

What might life look like if it were defined backward and lived forward? First, we must know our purpose.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism starts by defining life backward with this question: “What is the chief end of man?” The answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” You can’t ask for a better start than that. But surely we can add more specifics.

We can remember what God says will last: His Word and relationships (that is, people). The more we love and serve others in Christ, the richer our relational rewards. And just as there is continuity between earthly and heavenly relationships with the people of God, so those who cultivate a growing appetite to know God in this life will presumably know Him better in the next life than those who kept God in the periphery of earthly interests. There can be no more compelling reason to maintain an eternal perspective in this life than to know that perspective relates to our future capacity to see God.

In light of this desired destiny, we can live every day forward as we press on toward that goal.

Scripture Reading:

Philippians 3:7–14