06/27/2023
Are we placing our focus on the eternal, or are we concentrating our efforts on those things that are fleeting, and that will fall away? Is our pride today in the possessions of this world, at the demise of our very soul that lives forever? This is the thought on which I ask that we dwell today. I am seeking to redirect my own attention towards God, the most important focus of life; and my faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Will you join me in this quest and contemplation?
“And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go."”
Jeremiah 45:5 ESV
The Lord told Jeremiah that He was giving him his life, and would protect him. He has given us our lives as well, but how will we spend them? Will we do those things that God wishes, like Jeremiah, or will we spend them chasing our own vanities?
I have good health, a beautiful wife, a wonderful home, children, grandchildren, and wealth enough to comfort me, but what matters in these things is this... my health is given so that I can be in service to God, I have a wife with which I share my faith, love and life with, just as my Father taught me, my children and grandchildren are meant to honor me and learn to serve the Lord by witnessing the way I live each day, and the bounty of my life is loaned me as provision from my Heavenly Father. Everything in my life is of God, and for His glory. My relationship with Him, (which is redeemed, and sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ), is but a blink of an eye, when compared to what He is preparing me for. So in what else should I take pride, and where else should my efforts be spent?
Are these things I have spoken of, the most valuable the most precious things to us? Do they matter most to us, and what are the lessons we have learned in them? Job had all of the selfsame things and yet they were taken from Him... every one. What remained was His faith in God, and when we stop to look at what the true treasure was that Satan sought from Him... we find it to be his love and faith in God. This was that gem of great value. This was the one thing that once stolen from him could not be replaced. All else was returned to Job at the end of his ordeal because he would not give up his faith. Do we possess that same gem?
“And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
Job 42:10 ESV
We should love, walk, and serve God in our lives with the full understanding that everything we possess and hold dear is from Him and that even our bodies will one day be returned to dust. We should realize that the everlasting and eternal pearl of great value that we carry within us is our faith in God, and that all else is earthly dressing for us. Job understood this from the very beginning of his temptation, and held firmly to his pearl, and his soul, through all the suffering. We read this when he said:
“And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”
Job 1:21-22 ESV
I am not saying that our spouses and children are not valuable... they are... but not just because of us and our love for them, but rather, because of the pearl that each of them carries within, and which will one day be the treasure they will present to God... in the same way as you and I will present ours.
So our focus in life should be on God above all else, and when we do this, then our health, the loves we have, and all the provisions we have been given, will simply become objects for which we will give Him thanks and praise. To this end, we need to understand that all things, including each breath of life, flows from Him, and that we should live our lives in obedience to His will, and to glorify His name. If we direct our efforts in this way then we will remain in God's will always, and never need to fear, because He will be with us always and forevermore.
“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord."”
Jeremiah 1:8 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for all the blessings you surround us with. Thank you for our spouses, homes, children, grandchildren, and every provision you have given us. We acknowledge these gifts as being from you, and thank you for them every day. Holy Father, we realize the responsibility that you have entrusted us with as our lives are spent in your service and in leading our families in a godly fashion. Help us Lord to be an example to all those around us of your loving and steadfast nature; let them all see you in us, so that one day, on the day of judgement, you can gather their souls to you as brilliant pearls of great value. Most Gracious Lord, polish us, and remove the tarnish of sin, and selfish pride, that clouds our true reflection of you. We pray that our lives be spent with their focus always on you, and that in nothing, save our faith in you, will we be judged, and in this we will be found faultless through the blood of Jesus. Praised be your name Father, and thank you… for from you we know that all blessings flow.
“Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!”
Psalm 72:19
Rich Forbes