Friday, December 15, 2017

December 15 Thought for the day....remembering what is important


I remember seeing the Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials for the first time, they are amazing. Beautiful monuments to our Founding Fathers, not perfect men but men who granted us the freedom to even criticize their imperfections. In Kyrgyzstan, I saw ziggurats that were 1000's of years old, Egypt, pyramids and the Sphynx, they too are thousands of years old. All great monuments to monumental cultures and people that have stood the test of time, but will one day fade away.

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 2 Peter 3:10,11

Peter is telling us to prepare for what is going to happen. After the church is caught away, lifted from the earth, the Lord is going to purify everything. The heavens will pass away with a terrible sound, the phrase means there will be a hissing as if steam is boiling so loud that it will be deafening.

The "very elements will disappear in fire," the word translated elements means everything, all the way to subatomic matter, will be completely obliterated. Nothing in the heavens or on the earth will remain. Which leads us to Peter's question, "what kind of lives should we live?"

The wealthy and the powerful create impact in our culture and are remembered by buildings, roads, and monuments named for them. All of this is one day going to be burned up, and nothing will remain. We spend time on our homes, landscaping, vehicles and yet all of it is going to be destroyed never to be remembered. These things in themselves are not wrong. I believe the Lord would have us do great acts of kindness and generosity to be remembered. I believe He would want our homes to be nice and taken care of because they are gifts from God but we must bear in mind what is important and what will last!

Only those things done for eternity will survive. We must remember our priority of impacting lives, advancing God's Kingdom. We must win souls for eternity. Your career, home, portfolio, lands, businesses, vehicles will all fade away. What we invest in the Kingdom will last for eternity!

What is most important to you right now? Does it have eternal value? The relationships we build, the things we do for Christ, the lives we impact every day, these are the things that will last? Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, it reiterates this passage Peter has written. Remember God blesses us with things in this world, and they are only temporary pleasures, but our goals should be to remember what is important. The words we say, the actions we make, the love we pour out, the lives we touch and so much more are what is important, and with them, they bring rewards in heaven. Please ask the Lord to show you and remind you what is important today!

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