Being selfish for eternal life?

Scripture Read: 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses

Application: What does it mean to “take hold” of eternal life? The original helps us:

ἐπιλαμβάνομαι   epilambanomai   seize, grasp, to grasp something, in the sense of acquire for oneself (1 Tim 6:12, τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς; 6:19, τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς)^[1]

It almost has a sense of selfishness, but not for an evil end. God wants us to want this, to go after it and gain it for ourselves. That’s because when it comes to eternal life, no one else can grasp it for you. The reason the idea of “acquiring” it is so appropriate in its concept is because eternal life is not a one-time incident. Consider what acquire means:

To get as one’s own; to come into possession or control of; to come to have as a new or added characteristic, trait, or ability as by sustained effort^[2]

Becoming “born again” is when we pass from death to life in a moment. When we come to the end of ourselves and trust in the saving grace of Jesus Christ we have been Born Again, but we have just entered eternal life. Acquiring eternal life is a process, we understand it deeper and deeper as we continue to explore Who our Lord is. It is not a destination solely, although knowing we will spend eternity in heaven is an unbelievable truth. Eternal Life is a relationship with the eternal God and all that He is. We are to grasp this as tightly as a vice grip grasps a piece of wood, while we continue to squeeze more and more understanding and richness from it. This is acquiring eternal life. For this to happen we need to move from “temporal living” to eternal living. When we live only in the “here and now” we get pulled into the mundane – all the temporal concerns and worries. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthian church that we should see things in a different light:

1 Cor. 7:29-31  What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; [30] those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; [31] those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

This does not mean we do not deal with the “now”, we do, but we never lose our focus on how the “now” effects the “forever”! Our vision sees the Big Picture that God has given us:

2 Cor. 4:18  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

We learn to keep the “main thing, the main thing” as has been said by so many in many different ways. We do not “sacrifice the ultimate on the alter of the immediate!” From the first time I heard that statement my life changed! When we take hold of eternal life it puts everything in our life in perspective. His perspective!

Meditation Questions: When was the last time you thought about what you spend most of your time thinking about? What does that show you? When was the last time you were not content about a certain scripture – so you dug into it to discover more of what it meant? What does that show you? How much do you allow circumstances in this world; i.e. Political, Financial, Hollywood, etc., dominate your thinking? Affect your life to the point that you change a core belief? When you think about “eternal life” do you think of a place? What does that say? If you have trusted Christ. When you did that was it to escape hell? Is that the main reason even now? How much do you want to be with Him? How much time do you make right now?   

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^[1] Balz, H. R., & Schneider, G. (1990-). Vol. 2: Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament (30). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.

^[2] Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc.