THIS MATTERS
For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. (Philippians 1:10 NLT)
We all have different interests. We all have things we prefer more than the next person does. We all have different focuses. One thing matters to one person, and it does not matter at all to another. However, there is one thing that really matters and that is our relationship with God through our savior Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This really matters.
I was thinking today about all the worries over global warming. Global sin is our real problem and that is what the devil wants to keep people from seeing. Seems to me that it is more obvious than anything else!
God gave us all gifts and interests and we should all pray about the things that matter to us so that everything gets brought before the Lord. However, we should not forget that what really matters is the Lord. We should not let other things rise above the most important thing.
Funny how we can be so distracted from our faith walk by other things, until something comes up that we never saw coming and don’t know what to do! That is when we might hear ourselves or someone else say they cannot believe God let this happen. Or might wonder why God did this.
I always encourage people not to go there. Simply go to God and He will comfort you. This is His promise, and we can count on His promises.
In the 4th chapter of Jeremiah, the Lord is speaking, and He tells His people, “If you wanted to return to me, you could. You could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more. God says it is just that simple. If we want to can. If we really want to, we will!
This week I did some closet cleaning. I actually reduced my T-shirt racks. It needed to be done. I could probably do it one more time. Then this morning as I read my bible, I thought about all the verses I have underlined multiple times in multiple bibles, and it hit me that all of those things have been hidden in my heart for a purpose. They are important each and every time. I certainly do not want to reduce that. I do not need to be concerned about having too many or looking for ones to get rid of.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what causes people trouble. Every word of God is true and useful, and yet people get caught up in finding ways to remove things and make God more relevant. God is God for all time, that makes what He said just as relevant today as when He said it.
I had no idea where all those T-shirts came from, but they were no doubt important at the time. I have no idea exactly what I saw each time I underlined a verse in the Bible, but God does, and He can bring it up and put it to use at any moment. Sometimes I go back through journals and read what God spoke to my heart and it is like a new revelation. T-shirts can lose their significance, but the Word of God does not! Keep seeking the Lord. Keep getting His word in your heart.