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mojatu.com | Nottingham connected Pastors Corner - Living in the light of eternity Many people spend their lives trying to create a lasting legacy on earth. They want something to be remembered by, when they’re gone. Recently, we were treated to one of the greatest events in the world... London Olympics. We watched people with splendid Revd Piety Kamuyu. physique, which we all know was Church of England the result of very hard work. It was St Andrew Mapperly all very exciting and every nation enthusiastically watched as they Nottingham counted on their champions to do them proud in that great world event. The winners were awarded with different medals, cheers, praise, and their nations further rewarded them when they went back to their homelands. My husband and I travelled in the same flight with our Kenyan heroes in August, just after the London Olympics. We found our Jomo Kenyatta Airport in a jubilant mood, packed with people who had come to welcome our heroes back home. Nothing could contain the “mayoyo na vingelengele” that roared through the arrival gate at the very sight of the medallist, who proudly hung the medals around their necks. These heroes had really done our nation proud in an international arena. But you see...it is in the midst of this kind of excitement we easily forget that, all achievements great as they might be are eventually surpassed. The truth is that, records get broken, reputations do fade away, and tributes are forgotten with time. When this happens, we will do well to remember that, what ultimately matters most will not be what others say about our life, but what God says! An athlete whose goal was to become the school’s tennis champion felt proud when his trophy was prominently placed in the school’s trophy cabinet. Years later, someone mailed that trophy to him. It had been found in a trash-bin after the school was refurbished. It is said, and wisely so, “given enough time, all your trophies will be trashed by someone else”. The reality is that, living to create an earthly legacy turns out to be a short-sighted goal, good as it is, because of its “temporal” nature. Would it not be wise then to use our time in to building an “eternal” legacy? Life on earth is just but a rehearsal, practice workout, a preparation before the real production. We will spend far more time on the other side of it in eternity. The Bible tells that, “God has set eternity in the hearts of men” (Eccl 3:11). He designed us in his image to live for him, to live for eternity. We have an inborn instinct that longs for immortality. God put the desire to live in our brains and this is why death always seems unfair and cruel when it comes. But when we fully comprehend that there is more to life than just here and now, and realise that this life is just a preparation for eternity, then we begin to live differently. We start to live in the light of eternity, and this begins to shape the way we handle every relationship, task and circumstance in this life. God is inviting us to a closer walk with him. The closer we live to God, the smaller everything else around us appears. When we live in the light of eternity, our values change, our priorities are reordered, and so be it. Amen. By Revd P Kamuyu. 1. VRCC Nottingham 81 Arnold Road Basford, Nottingham NG6 0ED Sunday Service: 10.30 am - 1.00 pm 2. VRCC Birmingham Apollo Hotel “Training Centre” 243-247 Hagley Road Edgebaston Birmingham B16 9RA Sunday Service: 10.00 am - 1.30 pm Best chapati in town: Order today Call 07413868600 3. VRCC Banbury Grinsbury Community Centre Burchester Place Banbury Oxfordshire OX16 3WT Sunday Service: 10.00 am - 1.30 pm 4. VRCC Oxford legal Community Centre Ridgefield Road (opposite Cowley Bus Garage) Cowley, Oxford OX4 3BY Sunday Service: 10.30 am - 1.00 pm 5. VRCC Borehamwood Maxwell Park Community Centre, Maxwell Road Borehamwood WD6 1JJ Sunday Service: 10.00 am - 1.30 pm 6. VRCC london Heston Community Centre Vicarage Farm Road Heston, Hounslow TW5 0EE Sunday Service: 10.30 am - 1.00 pm 19