The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
1 Corinthians 7:30-31 (condensed) says "Time is short. From now on, those who use the things of the world should live as if not engrossed by them. For this world in its present form is passing away."
The things of this world are not in and of themselves evil. It is ok to have the nice house, the good car, to want a secure job that allows you to support your family and keep them safe, to want food on the table.
It is when those things become more important than the will of God, it is when those things take place in your heart so you strive more for them than for the Lord that problems happen. Those things will pass away, they will become dust, and the only thing that will remain is the work we have done for the Lord.
My husband, the pastor, preaches often on works of eternal significance. That in your relationship with God, you should be willing to work for Him, because of all He has done for you.
Works of eternal significance, the will of God, looks different for each person.
There was a grandmother who learned golf, not because she was retired or loved golf, but because her grandson's loved golf. In learning golf, she began spending more and more time with her grandsons, and has led 2 of them to Christ. Is golf eternally significant? No. Is leading her grandsons into their own personal relationship with Jesus eternally significant? Definitely!
When I think over my life, several people stand out as ones that have made an eternally significant impact on my life. Nothing they did was really all that amazing. But they prayed for me, they loved me no matter where I was, and they followed God daily. And through their example, they led me to follow God daily as well.
It is what I strive for, that someday, when I look back over my life, I can see, not the things of the world that I collected, not the houses we lived in, or the cars or the clothes, but the things I did that encouraged others, that showed Jesus's love to all, that were in line with the will of God.
I want the highlight real of my life to be filled with shots of Jesus and His love.
2 comments:
Oh, I LOVE the story about the grandmother who learned to play golf. That is so wonderful.
I, too, have people who stand out as having made an eternally significant impact on my life. Thanks for the reminder, not only to be grateful for those people, but to try to be one of those people for others in a heartfelt, loving way.
Whenever I read stuff like that grandmother, I think to myself, "Oooo, I wanna be like THAT when I'm a grandma!!" And then I remember that it's not going to happen if I'm not WORKING at becoming her RIGHT NOW!
Great post.
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