Liberated to New Life

You are in a depressed frame of mind because you have understood that things that are seen will pass away. Instead of dwelling on the fact that you are living on a planet that has been condemned to death, think of it in this way instead; you are living on a planet that will be liberated to new life. Set your affections on those things that are eternal, and you will not be disappointed.

You have made a twofold error. On the one hand, you suffer an unholy grief that comes from a sinful focus upon and affection for the things on this world. On the other, having understood that what is seen is temporary, you neglect your responsibilities out of a “what’s the use, none of this is going to last” attitude. The solution is to understand that this world is a training ground for the next. The patience and discipline required to clean a drawer or deny yourself food for the sake of obedience and prayer will bear fruit in the next world, not in the form of clean closets or a slender body, but in the virtues of patience and obedience. By submitting your will to the Lord's, you learn of Him. This knowledge will bless you both in this world and in the next. The world would deitize the results of labor spent to beautify or organize. God honors the labor itself, blesses you with the fruits of that labor, and teaches you to value the virtues you’ve gained rather than the material objects that you have organized. However, so long as He is the treasure of your heart, He does bless you with material gifts; a man is not jealous of the diamond ring he gives to his beloved unless he knows she values the ring over him. Likewise, the Lord your God will withhold no good thing in this world or the next from those whose hearts are set on the obedience that springs from love for Him.

Scripture: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless" (Psalm 84:11).