Recollection: We all Hunger for Eternity

Deep in each of us is a hunger for eternity. Some people give into it and devour much of it until they’re consumed by its reality. Others taste eternity with the tip of their tongue, but never feast at its table. They miss out on having their hunger sated with eternity.

When I’m walking through the forest and see the leaves shimmering in the canopy or when I’m sitting on a dune and hear the ocean waves crashing onto the shore, I recollect these words:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside waters of rest
He restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
— Psalm 23:1-3

In my deepest recollection, I see glimpses of how my craving for comfort and security overwhelmed my yearning for eternity. The great struggle of my heart is which table do I sit at for nourishment? Do I pull up to something like a fast-food drive-thru or grab a chair and remain at the marriage supper of the Lamb?

The forest and the dune offer nourishment for my innermost hunger, but even then it’s only transitory. They only point me to the source of true comfort and security. These come only from the Lord and is the Lord.

This promise is not a temporal satiation of comfort and security. The promise is an adoption uniting me to the family of God, which comes with the eternal inheritance of God’s provision and protection.

We are all hungry for eternity.