What's Important to You

I often sit and consider my life and what is around me. Have often wondered why some things that I have tried to sever ties with have been brought back to my life.

I have looked, or at least tried to, upon the things that I have accumulated in life and sometimes wonder why did I get that?

Why was it so important? 

Many have gone away on vacations or simply a timeout from life for a few days or more.  You pack clothes, a few personal items, a few extra things then you are gone. All that you possess stays behind. 

Some have an agenda worked out for this time away, some do not. They have planned for weeks to the last detail. If their plans work out then they consider it time well spent. 

As I grow older I think I am becoming less attached to some things when traveling.  I have often longed for a simpler life.  Less accumulation and more time relaxing and learning about God. 

It's a struggle.  We honestly do live with two enemies.  Ourselves and Satan.  Both love to toss desires to us as distractions.
Placing personally justified value on things that in reality we don't need or could do without.  Why do I have this? Why do I have that?  What possessed me to...well you get the idea. 

I think upon the a few people that weren't parables who met Jesus.  A Rich young man for one.  Had everything yet found himself lacking. Wanted Jesus but when told about what to give up he went away sad.  About people invited to be with Jesus who made up excuses. They had bought property and had to go look at it. Had this to do, that to do.  Excuses.

You will never take it with you.

I have family who to this day...decades later...are still dealing with what to do with the possessions left behind by family.  What to do with possession from friends.

What I have learned is indeed simplicity is often best.  I would rather sit and listen to God's creation than the foul words on a television or in a movie.  The insinuations in those are what they are.  Trying to persuade people that sin is ok. That sin is acceptable.  That if you don't accept sin ten you are on the outside.  You have the problem.

The goal of Satan is to keep people from getting to Heaven.  To keep people from a right relationship with Jesus.  The more distractions the more we don't look for Jesus. 

He wants to redefine what's important to us and get us to be the ones to say it.

He wants us to fill our minds with useless things so that there is no room for Jesus.
He wants us to believe how wronged we have been made to feel from our Creator.
How God did that to you, why should you follow Him?  How can a 'loving God' not accept you as you are? How can He really love you if your choice in gender for yourself is so offensive to Him that He won't let you into Heaven?

The truth is, we live in a world of deceptions.  A world of lies. Outside of the Bible, there is no real truth.  Jesus has unequivocally stated His love for everyone by going through all that He has in order to prove His love. 

He's told the truth and people don't believe it.  He created a man to be a man.  A woman to be a woman.  He told the world that a marriage is only between a man and woman.  He made no mistakes in how anyone was born to be.
We were born to be loved by Him.
We were born in sin, but don't have to stay in it.  He lived and died, and arose again to make it possible to become children of God. 

The most important thing in your life isn't your possessions.  Not your car, not your home, not your job. Not your career.  Honestly not even your family and friends.
Not even them.

The most important thing in your life is whether or not you are a believer in Jesus Christ as your Savior.  That's it. That's everything.

It's not your hairstyle, your fancy shoes, your colorful wardrobe.  Not your desire to travel, nor your desire to stay where you are.  Not your desire to be rich nor to just make enough to get by. 

Everything is not important but that single question.

Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? 

Nothing you surround yourself with matters.  You could die today and it will still be here while you face Jesus to answer why you should be allowed into Heaven. 

Face it. Sports do not matter. Celebrities do not matter.  Famous people do not matter.  Family and friends are not going to be able to help you when you die.

It's just you and Jesus.  Those who do not know Jesus as Savior will be spending eternity in torment in Hell.  Apart from God.  A strange thing to say is all the bad people and good people will be in Hell. 

Only the saved will be in Heaven.

The Bible says that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth from people who had said no to Jesus.  Weeping because in their eyes they were good people. They thought they weren't bad.  Gnashing people because they indeed refused to acknowledge God's truth and held fast to their hatred and anger for Him.

So what's important to you?  Really.

If truth be known are you really happy with all that you have? Are you truly satisfied with your possessions?  No. The truth is no you are not.

Sure for a moment they brought happiness but you will grow weary of them and they go into a closet or garage or storage space.  Then as time goes by you can't remember why you thought it to be important.

So be honest with yourself.

What's important to you?

I don't have your answer.  I can only share my own.