When Does Eternal Life Begin

I am one of the leaders on a prayer call with my church. For over a year, I have selected a verse, talked about how I apply it to my life and then lead a corporate prayer. This is not something that I volunteered for or felt prepared to do when I was asked to do it. Accepting that someone saw something in me that I did not see in myself was truly an act of faith. This assignment requires that I recognize daily the ways that God is working and bringing scripture to life through me.

One week I was preparing for the call when I saw a scripture in a way that I had never seen before. The scripture speaks about something foundational to my faith but challenged what I thought I knew. In John 17: 3 it says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” This blew my mind because I thought that eternal life was what we received after death. That is not true. As soon as you come to know God and His Son, Jesus Christ, you have eternal life.

The whole chapter is the Lord’s prayer to His Father. What we call the Lord’s Prayer is the model that he gave the disciples on how to pray. These words, in chapter 17 of the book of John, He prayed for the disciples that God gave Him. This is what He prayed for me….for me and for you! He wants that the same love that God has for Him to be in me, forever. I have said that the only thing I will take with me when I die is my relationship with God and this verse shows me that it’s true. I want eternal life for everyone so that we can all do what Jesus did and live a life motivated by love and dedicated to our Heavenly Father.

Father God, thank you for the gift of eternal life through an opportunity to know You. I pray that I will continue to operate in love and bring glory to Your Name. Knowing you has changed the quality of my life, forever. I am still a work in progress, so I am grateful that your grace and mercy covers me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.