What is REALLY Important?

What's Really Important?

by David Brenneman 

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,  and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:7-11.

You can see it interlaced in what we read in the Gospels, that is, the changing of how the Disciples were being taught to view things in life is very apparent.  They were being taught to value what God values.  They were being taught how to be workers in His fields.  

When you go to work for an employer, for the most part, your personal views on things like your appearance, what you are to have with you, what your workspace may look like, are all determined by your employer.  They decide what personal protective equipment you must wear.  They decide if you are permitted to personalize your workspace.  They decide if you can have a cell phone on your person or not.  All these are what you are taught going into a new job. 

The Disciples were taught many things, only a sliver of which we read in the Bible. 

But what we do read is enough to gain an understanding of what is truly important in God's eyes and in His economy. 

Excuses abound as to why so many who have come to Christ aren't engaging in their OJT.  On the job training.  

It's nothing new.  Jesus spoke to it.  People who placed things that are of this world before following Jesus. 

"And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”  But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”  Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”  But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59-62.

Also in Matthew chapter 8.

For those who wonder if the Disciples questioned this: "Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last; and the last, first." Matthew 19:27-30.

With you, do you place things or people or events or anything above the time, energy and effort due to Jesus in your life that is to be in Christ?

Most of us know the passage where Jesus said that we must all take up our own cross and follow Him.  That cross isn't some small thing.  It was at least 8 to 12 inches square and over 7 feet long.  The cross beam was over 5 feet wide.  There's nothing anyone could carry besides the weight of that cross. 

It requires a person's everything. 

In following Jesus it also requires us to learn what's important to Him in order to please Him and yes it may often not be what pleases us.

It's an amazing time when you really are setting time aside to be with Jesus.  You really can have your mind opened to the Scriptures as had happened to them.  

The grandest scheme of Satan is to get Christians to believe that going native is acceptable and good for living a successful life. 

We're to be different, not the poster children for compromise.  We are to live life in Christ Jesus in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.  If we're no different than anyone else what will they see?

There's to be nothing more important than our relationship with Jesus.  

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord"

So what does that say concerning how we are to live life?

What does that say to you?

How you dress, how you spend your time, your money, tells a story.  How you speak, what flows from your mouth tells what's important to your heart.  Jesus said that what flows out of the heart of man defiles the man.  "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." Matthew 15:18.

That account of our lives before Jesus?  It's all about how much we valued what was important to Jesus reflected in our lives.  It's an unfiltered reflection of either Jesus or ourselves.  Our thoughts, actions, intentions, things we said or didn't say.  

My Dear Reader, either we live our lives reflecting His workmanship in us for those good works that He prepared for us to be doing in Christ or we reflect ourselves. 

We aren't to be just like everyone else.  We are to make whatever is important to God important to us.  Jesus took His Father's business personally to the point of death on the cross.  Obeying His Father was always the most important thing in His life. 

Take a good look at what all you have been making important in your life.  We buy things, wear things, speak of things, that reflect what we have elevated as important in our lives.  

The sober question is this:  is living an approved life in God's eyes the most important thing to you or are you unrecognizable as a follower of Jesus Christ?  

Are you more concerned with keeping up appearances than what's important to God?

You have to decide.  The very fact that you're still alive means that you still have the choice to make the right decision.  You still can turn your whole heart over to Jesus once again.  

You CAN choose, but will you?

What is REALLY Important to you?

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.