The CV for Eternity

I have often felt that I was born in the wrong place. I do not mean the small industrial town where my life began. I mean that I have felt out of step with the spirit of the age.

When I look at the direction Britain and Europe are taking, I worry about my grandchildren and the young people growing up around them. What will they inherit? What will they accept as normal?

Dishonesty, selfishness and disregard for others trouble me wherever I find them—in politics, business, families and religion. I also recognise these failings in myself. I cannot examine the world honestly without examining my own heart.

Yet I long for a world where kindness is dependable, promises mean something and people can trust one another.

Psalm 15 gives that longing a shape. It asks who may dwell in God’s presence, then describes a person who lives uprightly, speaks truth from the heart, refuses to slander, keeps promises even at personal cost and does not exploit others.

These are the qualities that make peace possible. When I think about the paradise Jesus promised, I think about the people who will live there. Who will be found worthy of that life? Surely their hearts and conduct must align with the qualities described in Psalm 15. Carry dishonesty, greed and cruelty into a new world, and the old suffering would follow.

I have come to believe that life on this imperfect planet involves an examination of the heart. Our choices reveal what we love, what we value and whose guidance we follow.

Second Chronicles 16:9 says:

“For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.”

God’s watchfulness gives me hope. He searches for devoted hearts and strengthens those who turn towards him. The One who examines us also understands our frailty and sees sincere efforts that others overlook.

This examination unfolds through ordinary life. We admit a mistake when concealment would be easier. We protect someone’s reputation when gossip would win approval. We keep our word when breaking it would benefit us. We help a neighbour when doing so interrupts our comfort.

Time reveals our character and gives it room to grow.

If I claimed to be stronger than another man, an arm-wrestling match could settle the matter in minutes. If I claimed to be more honest, it would take far longer to judge. Integrity becomes visible through changing circumstances, pressures and opportunities.

God already knows our hearts. Through our choices, we come to understand ourselves and can allow him to shape us.

This does not explain every sorrow. Some suffering leaves wounds nobody else can see. God understands those burdens, and his judgment takes account of what ours cannot.

Still, these years matter. Here, on an imperfect earth, we can learn to practise the goodness that belongs in a better one.

I cannot control everything my grandchildren will encounter. I can help them recognise goodness by making it something they have experienced. I can listen patiently, speak truthfully, keep my promises and treat others with dignity.

I am still learning, still failing and still beginning again. I depend upon God’s mercy and the strength he gives.

When his eyes search the earth, I want him to find in me a heart willing to be taught. And when I pray for the paradise Jesus promised, I am also asking him to help me become the kind of neighbour who belongs there.