True Life Priorities

This year my oldest son turned 24 years old, which means that he has, for all intents and purposes, lived a fourth of his life. If you are 50, then you have, again for all intents and purposes, lived have your life. Each of these examples presumes a person will live to be 100 years old. However, none of us knows how long we will live. The other side of these statements and facts is that eternity is forever. And the reason I bring this up is because we human beings get so caught up in this world and the things of this world that we lose sight of what is most important. Remember, heaven is a place of complete perfection, holiness and happiness, which means that we may not remember much of the difficulties of this life, yet the devil has seen fit to keep our attention on this world much to the demise of our own eternal well being.

I have spoken with too many people who have struggles in life, and when I ask about their Divine Service attendance and reading of God’s Word, the answer is usually the same, “Oh, it’s lacking.” To which I ask, “Do you suppose things might be better if God were in your life and a part of it?” And again, the response is usually something like, “Probably.” And finally I ask, “Then why isn’t He?” And I usually do not get any further response.

16And [Jesus] told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21).

Brothers and sisters, God loves you so much. He created you to love you. He has so much He wants to give to you gifts and blessings beyond our imagination. Each and every day, each and every Sunday, God desires to pour out on you all the gifts and blessings He has to give. Yet, how often do we find ourselves simply refusing and rejecting the gifts of God, gifts already purchased and paid for by the blood of Jesus.

Let me continually encourage you, be given the gifts of God. Focus on what is most important, being ready for our real lives in our real eternal world of heaven. As King David said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’” (Psalm 122:1).