For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. – Isaiah 65:17, Amplified Bible (AMP)

The late Dr. Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, has had tremendous impact on many lives. One of the seven habits Dr. Covey wrote about was to “Begin With the End in Mind,” or, in other words, to never take an action until you assess how the action will affect you and others over the long term. When we look at the meaning behind Isaiah 65:17, this habit of beginning with the end in mind has tremendous implications for the Christian life.

Upon studying Isaiah 65:17 – and companion verses like 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 21:1, and Matthew 24:35 – God makes it pretty clear that, in the long haul of Eternity, the things we do that are tied to the world system are meaningless. How much money we make, how popular we are, and how many awards we rack up for our trophy cases are the types of things that, in Eternity, will not be remembered or even come into mind.  In the Hebrew, “remembered” is the word “zakar,” meaning “recognized,” “mentioned,” “recounted, “recorded.” “Come” ( `alah ) means to “ascend or be high,” and “mind” (leb) means the “heart, intellect.” The implication is this: although the things we do on Earth will be in our memory banks, and although they will certainly be the topic of conversation when Christ judges us for our loyalty to Him on Earth, nothing we do in pursuit of our earthly goals will be worth mentioning after the judgment because we will no longer ascribe any importance (highness) to them in our hearts and minds. They will be wood, hay, and stubble to us just as they are to Christ, and, as a result, we will be happy to keep silent about them forevermore.

If we want our earthly actions to mean something, then we need to tie them to eternal objectives. Anything else, in God’s eyes, is truly a waste of time. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we’ll start doing things that mean something in the end – and the more things we’ll have to talk about during our fellowship time in Eternity.

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