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February 1, 2024
- By Ed Powell
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"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
Man struggles daily trying to adjust his priorities to enjoy life to the fullest and to take advantage of all that life has to offer. He expends his time and exhausts his energy pursuing goals that constantly elude him, that are beyond his reach, that are unrealistic. Or he simply becomes inundated with the frustration of it all. Our priorities have roots in our values. Our values play a significant role that determines the focus of our spiritual journey.
As never before, we are overwhelmed with advertising for products we do not need but "cannot possibly live without." Things and possessions rule our lives, consume our time, and rob us of the quality of life we let slip by. Our thinking is cluttered with having more of what we don't need. Our decisions are influenced by secular values focused on satisfying a selfish lifestyle, ever drawing us away from God. We become the victim of the world's system of materialism and greed and wind up living within the bondage of our own making. You say, "I'm not like that. I have my priorities and try to focus on them with much effort." Let me tell you about an experience I had not long ago.
Flying from California to New York, I was seated beside a well-to-do farmer who was anxious to let everyone know how successful he was and the vast amount of land he farmed. We were fairly high off the ground when he turned to me and said, "We are now flying over the 10,000 acres I own and farm." Then he said something very profound that surprised even him: "It doesn't look so big when you see it from here." His perspective on life was from ground level. God wants us to view life from HIS PERSPECTIVE.
All of these things are but "fuel for the fire" in God's sight. The proper perspective, when founded on the proper relationship with God, gives life its proper meaning, its proper fulfillment, its proper purpose, and its proper value. We covet what we don't need and probably won't use, trying to satisfy needs that those things cannot meet. Our deepest need, craved by our heart and soul, is a personal relationship with God that will set us free from sin and the bondage of things that bind us. This is found only in Jesus Christ when He is our Savior and the Lord of our life. How few consider the sobering fact that life is short at best. Life is uncertain, we have no promise of tomorrow, and we are only a breath away from eternity.
With renewed purpose of heart, we should live each day to the maximum for His glory. We should buy up every opportunity He places in our path, seek to encourage and strengthen others, and be a blessing to everyone we meet. We should align our lives with the current of God's love and live each day with eternity's values in view. We have but one opportunity to make our life count for eternity. Don't abuse that gift with the encumbering fallacies of this world. Make God the priority of your life so that "out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.
This page was reprinted by permission from: http://litmin.org/dare.php?date=2024-02-01&print=1
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