WHAT MATTERS MOST
NOTE FROM BARNEY: Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouraging words. They mean the world to me. By God’s grace, we have the strength to get through each day. Monday was the one-month anniversary of Linda’s passing. Hard to believe. We have a long journey ahead of us. Please keep praying.
On April 14, 1912, as the Titanic was sinking, one woman paused as she was about to step onto a lifeboat. She said she needed to run back and pick up something important. The attendant allowed her three minutes. The woman raced through the corridors of the sinking vessel. All around her, she noticed jewelry and cash strewn on the floor. But she ignored the valuables and made her way to the library. She grabbed a Bible and ran back to the lifeboat. In that moment, she chose what matters most. (Source Unknown)
It’s interesting what thoughts come to mind as we’re facing death. All the goodies of this world don’t matter. Prosperity, pleasure, power—they’re all trivial. In Matthew 16:26, Jesus uttered perhaps the most profound statement in human history. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (ESV). It’s easy to ignore that question in the midst of youthful fun and frivolity. But as we stare death in the eye? Suddenly eternity looms as what matters most.
Linda’s death has caused me to reevaluate what’s really important in life. A couple of weeks before she passed, I was sharing with her about the events of the day. Finally, she broke in and said, “I’m sorry, but I just don’t have it in me to talk about trivial things right now.” I get it. At that moment, it didn’t matter that she had owned a successful retail store for twenty-eight years. It didn’t matter that our kitchen was recently remodeled to her liking. It didn’t even matter that she hadn’t read the latest posts on her social media. (Imagine that!) In her mind, those were trivial concerns. While the rest of us scurried about dealing with mundane matters, she was facing the reality of eternity.
Yes, there are times we need a break from serious matters, by sidetracking our minds with the superficial. For the past couple of months, dealing with the heaviness of Linda’s departure, I’ve had an urge to watch silly movies. But as we maneuver our way through life’s darkest moments, running through the corridors of the sinking ship of this world, our priorities shift. We discover a deeper desire to focus our thinking on eternal matters. Because in the end that is what matters most.
Principle: Eternity is what matters most in life.
Ponder:
Under what circumstances do you find yourself focusing on eternal matters?
What specific practices can you adopt to help you focus more on what matters most?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Matthew 16:21-28.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, deliver me from being so concerned over the things of this world that I neglect eternal matters. Help me to focus on what matters most.