The physical universe in which we live is subject to the passage of time. But eternity is not time. 

The Bible tells us that in the beginning (a “time” reference) God created the physical universe and with it apparently time itself. Since humans have known only time our attempts to describe eternity involve time concepts. 

For example, it has been said that if a bird carries a grain of sand from a beach on the shore of America to a beach on a shore of Europe and then returns and repeats this flight until all the sand has been moved, then eternity would have just begun. 

There are other such illustrations, but they all fail because they invoke time and eternity is not time. We speak of eternity being “long” or of “spending” eternity or even of eternity “passing”. I do not believe that such references can properly be used of eternity, simply because eternity is not time.

Are dreams a small clue to the nature of experiencing eternity? We have no real idea of a dream’s duration while experiencing it. While a dream takes place in our imagination there is still some sense of time within a dream. How “long” are your dreams?

Earth, and every other planet, every star, every galaxy and even space itself are all passing away as you read this. You are not. To be sure, your physical body is in the process of running its course, so to speak, but not your spirit. God has designed your spirit to be eternal. You will “outlast” the entire physical universe.

This is because the real you is not a part of this universe. The real you is born of eternity. You are not a body with a spirit, but an eternal spirit temporarily housed in a body that will return to the dust.

With these few thoughts, I encourage you to make resolutions with more than the coming new year in mind.