What is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.
—2 Corinthians 4:18
Babylon, once the largest city in the world, is no more—just rubble and ruins. Ephesus, once a jaw-dropping monument to opulence, is no more—just rubble and ruins.
Today’s cities are exhibits of eye-popping prosperity—stunning skyscrapers, upscale shops, luxurious houses, elegant churches. But the time will come when it will all be debris, gawked at by tourists. Today’s treasures are tomorrow’s ruins.
One sure way to miss meaning in life is to hitch your happiness to things that are temporary, and in the long run, meaningless: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
Choosing the temporary over the eternal
is a foolish and fatal swap.