If you were asked to name the most important material possessions you have today how would you answer? We might say our houses, cars, electronic gadgets or something else.
Most of these things have substantial costs associated with them. It takes purpose, planning and a lot of effort to pay for them, but we want these things so we are willing to do whatever it takes to obtain them.
We will sign a 30-year mortgage or a six year car loan to get them because they are valuable to us.
The value of serving God
Looking at our service to the Lord–what value do we place on it? How much does it really cost us to serve God? If it’s not costing you anything, if we only have to give up a couple of hours a week on Sunday morning, how valuable is it?
We will work 50 hours a week to have the biggest TV, latest electronic toys, or best clothes, but we only spend a couple of hours in service to God. Which is more valuable?
We get sucked in by the World’s activities and possessions thinking they will make us happy but we lose sight of why we are here in the first place–to serve God.
The World doesn’t pull you away overnight. It starts with a car payment, your child’s baseball game, a mortgage then a credit card bill. Before you know it you are overwhelmed with your children’s sports, debt and the emptiness of the World.
We wonder why we don’t feel God’s presence and why we don’t feel close to anyone at church. Well, maybe it’s because we need to place more value in our service to God.
We need to put more time and more of ourselves into serving Him. The more we put in the more we will get out.
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” (2 Cor. 9:6)
Pursuing a life with Christ
No doubt we love the Lord and the church. In fact, we pray to God to not let us take the church for granted. However, tragically by our own actions we do.
Sometimes we are so deceived that we think and say one thing, but our actions say something completely different.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22)
So, how do we refocus our time and commit more of ourselves to the service of the Lord? There are only so many hours in a day, right? Well, we have to start saying “no” to some good things in order to say “yes” to something much better.
We have to say no to working overtime to afford that new TV. We have to say no to a sporting event to spend time in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to sometimes say no to our relationships outside of church to spend time ministering to His people.
We need to start saying no to things that take us away from God’s service in order to say yes to something much better–a life with Christ, a life of meaning, a life of purpose, and a life of joy.
