Everyone looks for something that is lasting. I once carried on a friendship with an atheist. He was on a quest to write a book that would make a major impact, so that he would be remembered after he was gone. It was unacceptable to him that his life would pass away and not one thing of his presence on earth would matter or be remembered. The futility of such an existence was more than he could bear. And in case you are wondering, he never did come up with that book. He failed to reach anything that endured.

We want to endure. We can’t fathom the idea that we are simply a passing shadow, or a fad that is quickly gone. Something needs to endure. Quite often, people seek some of that in marriage. They reason that to love someone truly with a love that endures for a lifetime would be meaningful. Of course, even in this, there are many who fail. It ends with the too early death of one partner, or in divorce, or in a disinterested couple who stay together long after the fires of romance and love have left the scene. But even among those who love for 60 years and more, the end is soon at hand, and love does not endure.

And this is true about all of life’s endeavours. Whether it is building a business, financial empire, or a building. Something ought to remain when we are gone. Like the pyramids of old, who still stand and give testimony to the builders. I once met a man who had led a research team that successfully created a medication that had saved thousands of lives. It must feel deeply satisfying to have left this earth having brought the betterment of the human race. Others seek an enduring legacy in politics, the military, in the arts, or in an educational achievement. It seems more than we can bear that a life could be lived as a consequence to no one or nothing. Simply to die with no memory or impact to be felt. Like a hand that is put into a pail of water and then withdrawn. The ripples move out from the withdrawal of the hand, but are soon gone without a trace.

Of course, the vast majority of the human race never even gets close to breathing the rarefied air of having left something of such consequence behind. We know of the names of some of the great men and women of history and know that they lived among millions of others who are like the ripple in the bucket of water. No one knows who they were or what their lives might have meant.

Of course, there are some who claim to never think of these things. They either get busy doing that which satisfies them in the immediate, content with the temporal, never thinking how quickly this comes to an end. Others who do think of these things will try to drown the pain of their failures in some fashion. Everything from mindless entertainment and pleasure to drugs and alcohol. It helps to fill the gnawing sense that we live up against an eternal void that swallows us all. Solomon was right when he said, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:1, ESV).

And yet, against the threat of meaninglessness and despair, scripture introduces a stunning hope. Hebrews 13:14 states, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

There is here, a declaration of certainty. There is an eternal city that is to come, to which those who seek it might discover. But, while this is what is promised, there is an observation that is also not to be passed over. It is the first part of the sentence. “Here we have no lasting city.”

Imagine you are seeking for the wild animals found in the African Serengeti. Lions, elephants, great herds of wildebeests, and the variety of primates. You have always wanted to see them. You will not find them if you are diving in the bottom of the ocean. Or, to use another illustration, imagine you are looking for rare earth minerals. You will not find them by researching the dollar stores of the planet. If you are to find what you want, you are required to search in the right areas.

The great failure of the vast majority of the human race is that they look for the eternal meaning for which their soul craves in the temporal cities of this present creation. I have found that even Christian people, who should know better, do exactly this. They pour out their lives for temporal things only to have death swallow up everything they have ever done. As in Paul’s example of wood, hay and stubble; fire eventually consumes it all.

If you seek an abiding city, you will have to find it in the eternal promises of God. You will have to pour out your life for Christ and His gospel and count all else as dung. And when the things of this earth are taken from you, you will not mourn. For what you wanted was never found here. It was only found in the kingdom Christ promised.

Martin Luther wrote the following lines:

Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God’s truth abideth still
His Kingdom is forever.*