Do you have FOMO, the “Fear of Missing Out”?
This phobia is exacerbated by today’s technology that provides real-time photos, videos, and communication from people and places across the world. Seeing or hearing others having a good time, experiencing things you aren’t experiencing, getting things you aren’t getting – this can create overwhelming temptation to be envious or jealous, and for comparison and competition.
At the root, this fear is all about you. You want to be at the center of everything good, receiving all the good things. This fear leaves no room for peace or contentment in one’s life. Rather, it leads to constant striving. You want everything. You don’t want to miss anything. So you do whatever you need to do to make sure you are in the middle of it all as much as humanly possible.
You may be able to achieve some things, experience some things. But all of that is temporary. What about eternity? Do you have the fear of missing out on Heaven? Are you doing anything to make sure you don’t?
The Bible provides the account of a rich ruler who seems to have had the fear of missing out on Heaven. One day, he approached Jesus for some advice, and maybe some assurance. He asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tested him. Had he followed the commandments to love his neighbor? The ruler responded that he had kept all of those commandments since he was a child. Perhaps at this point the ruler expected Jesus to confirm that by doing those things, he was assured a place in heaven. But instead, Jesus challenged the man further.
“Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22).
In essence, Jesus – who was God in flesh – was asking the man if he also had followed all the commandments to love God. Mainly, the first commandment to have no other gods before Him – which incidentally included all the riches this ruler had accumulated.
Unfortunately, this man’s fear of missing out on worldly riches was greater than his fear of missing out on eternal riches in Heaven, for the Scripture reads, “And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich” (Luke 18:23).
This rich ruler had good intentions. He thought he could do all the good things he knew he was supposed to do, and that that would be enough to assure His place in heaven. But God never gave the Ten Commandments as a list of dos and don’ts in order to secure your place in Heaven. The Ten Commandments were given to test the human heart – to show the things God desired of them, and to give them guidelines – checks – to recognize when their hearts were going astray and to urge them to turn back to Him, the Source of true life. God’s law was always meant to reveal the sin nature in all of humanity, and to cause them to turn to Him for forgiveness and healing from that sin nature, which leads to death if it is left go.
You see, God doesn’t want you to miss out on Heaven. He knows that you will miss out, however, without His help. We all fall short of the glory of God because of the sin that we are born with (see Romans 3:23). We can’t get to Heaven, then, by any of our own merits – they are just not good enough! That is why He sent Jesus Christ, His perfect Son, who took on human form to take our sins upon Himself and put them to death through His own death on the cross (see 1 Peter 2:24). He put our guilt on Himself; He paid our penalty. Then, He proved that the penalty was forever covered when He rose from the grave three days later. Now, when we put our faith and trust in Him, He gives us His righteousness, and He gives us His Spirit, making us free from the power of sin and death.
When you realize what an amazing gift this is, it becomes easier to let go of all of the temporary things of this world that are fading away. It’s as Jesus asked, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). You no longer have a fear of missing out on the things of this earth when you have the peace and hope of eternity in your heart. In fact, we can say with the Apostle Paul, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…” (Philippians 3:8).
Don’t miss out on Heaven. Don’t miss out on this wonderful gift of being forgiven, reborn, renewed, and of receiving the gift of eternal life. Trust in Jesus Christ today.