Thinking About the Hereafter

 Mike Johnson

A man once asked, “Do you ever think about the hereafter?” He thought a few seconds and said, “I go in a room to get something, but once I get there, I can’t remember what I went to get. So I think, ‘what am I here after?’”

The man did not answer the question in the sense asked. The questioner used the term “hereafter” to refer to life, or our state, after death, which is something that we must consider. We need to consider what we will be in eternity.

Jesus gave an example in one of his parables of a person who thought only about this life. In Luke 12, He spoke of a certain rich man who had prospered a great deal. The rich man finally ran out of room to store his harvest. He decided that he would pull down his barns and build greater barns. Then he said, “. . . Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” This man only thought of this life and did not consider the hereafter.

People need to consider that eternal reward and eternal punishment is waiting for everyone. In Matthew 25:46, Jesus described the fate of the wicked and the righteous. He said, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

We do need to think about the hereafter. However, it is not enough to only think about it—we need to obey God. We will be judged based upon what we do while upon this earth (II Cor. 5:10, Rom. 2:6). It is essential to become a Christian and then to remain faithful in our service to God.