I heard a sermon a few months ago that has stuck with me since. The thesis was to the effect of "If, when we died, we ceased to exist, it would still be worth it to serve God. We don't serve Him simply to avoid punishment." That statement has nagged at me since...because it is so true. If the only thing that you serve God for in to preserve your eternity in Heaven, you are missing out on great pleasures and privileges in this world. To show why I believe this, I can site a single truth. If God wanted us to know and love Him simply so we could live with Him in eternity, He would take us to Heaven as soon as we pray the sinner's prayer and accept Him as Lord. It is not enough for us to just accept Christ and then continue in our same ways ignoring what is going on around us so that we can live with Him in eternity. God has things for His people here, on earth. Fellowship with other believers, winning souls for His kingdom (so that they too can win more souls), using our gifts, talents and abilities to worship Him...These are all ways that we can commune with Him daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and forever. In his book, The Purpose Driven Life, the author's thesis is based on the fact that our life here on Earth is a dress rehearsal for our life in Heaven. The talents we develop and use here will be the ones that we will continue to use in eternity. That is why, whether you are the President of a country, a multi-millionaire, a teacher, a pastor, an actor, a garbage collector, a custodian, a doctor or in any other profession; do whatever you do to the absolute best of your ability to the glory of God. Then, once you have completed your earthly life of glorifying God, you will also be able to use those talents and abilities to continue glorifying him in Heaven.