The Most Important Things

In the daily reading plan I have been going through the Gospel of Luke. One of Luke’s phrases, in the NLT, that he repeats over and over again is this: experts in religious law. He couples that with the term Pharisees, so we know that he’s not just referring to the group of Pharisees, but he’s referring to another group of religious people. The thing that keeps coming up is that the “experts” seem to be following Jesus around and pointing out everything they think is wrong. Or, more accurately, everything they deem as wrong. Yet, Jesus continually shows them through the law how right He is.

In one particular passage we see the “experts” questioning Jesus and at the end of that passage we see Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. What a wonderful contrast! The “experts” were constantly second guessing and trying to find fault in Jesus. Yet Mary (who was delivered of several demons) was simply sitting at the feet of Jesus ready to glean whatever she could. It got me thinking about my own life. Have I become a “religious expert?” Able to point out flaws and minutia, all the while second guessing authority? Or am I sitting at Jesus’ feet, trusting in Him?

Am I an expert or ex-sinner? When I am done sitting at Jesus’ feet, I will let you know.

It’s hard to truly fathom heaven and eternity. In fact, in hebrew, the definition of eternity is time outside of the mind. So, having said that how can finite beings truly comprehend the infinite? Only through the mind of the Spirit (the mind of Christ).

It’s very easy to get caught up in earthly thinking. You have bills to pay, circumstances to overcome, trials to walk through and offenses to forgive. Those are things that happen everyday, there’s no avoiding them. Yet, in the midst of this God has called us to not think like that. He has called us to “set our minds on things above and not on this earth” (col.3:2). He has told us that we should constantly be allowing the mind of Christ to invade our natural mind. Paul says in Phil. 3:19, “…their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they THINK ONLY ABOUT THIS LIFE HERE ON EARTH”(NLT).

What an excellent verse! It points out the current state of many christians! We think only about life here on earth. What are going to eat, what are we going to wear, where are we going to live; these are all valid questions yet Jesus has specifically instructed us to seek His kingdom first. Those are all finite, earthly things. Jesus’ kingdom is infinite and heavenly. It will last forever. That’s where our mind should be. That’s where we should be looking.

So why don’t we? I believe it boils down to one truth that has not been spoken on enough in recent years. The second coming of Jesus. Yea. For real. Because we don’t hear this doctrine being preached at all (in reality) a mindset has settled in. It is, “Jesus won’t come back in my lifetime”. No one on Earth can even make that claim. The bible most definitely contradicts claims like that. (See Phil. 4:5, James 4:13-17 for some of my favs) Because of a lack of teaching on this doctrine there is an enormous amount apathy in churches across the globe. Why should I witness? Jesus isn’t coming back for a long time. I can witness later. WRONG. Nobody, except the Father, knows the time. Therefore we should be witnesses. (Acts 1:8)

Take this as a healthy reminder, Jesus is coming back. We do not know how many days are left. Therefore set your mind on eternal things – salvation, discipleship, righteousness, etc. Not on things on the earth, for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking (earthly things) it is righteousness, peace and joy (eternal things, that can be experienced on earth) in the Holy Ghost! Let a sense of urgency flow into your spirit right now.

Good vs. evil. We see it in the movies, books, video games and even taking place in our own lives. Yet the world is making a huge attempt to blur the lines between good vs. evil. They are feeding the world the idea that man is generally good. Any mistakes man may make are the result of strange people who are extreme in their views. We see that even our current presidential administration has reduced terrorism to, “man-made disasters”. Not the result of evil people bent on world domination. You wouldn’t necessarily think that good vs. evil would have that big of an impact on your day-t0-day life or even your relationship with Jesus but it does.

There’s a fresh wave of “interfaith” movements being spread across the world right now. It says, “if we can sit down and discuss our differences between our “religions” then all will be well”. Also, “if we can understand each other, perhaps we can unite to take on the injustices in the world”. This is all very noble on the surface. Here’s a brilliant quote from Tozer regarding these types of meetings: “the purpose of these talks is not to confront truth, but to discover how the followers of other religions think and thus benefit from their views as we hope they will from ours”. If we come to the understanding that man is inherently evil and is incapable of anything good within himself… we come to the realization that all talk is idle. Specifically, talk that is not related to eternity. And so these discussions that never confront truth, never go anywhere. Everyone agrees to disagree and the world is satisfied with tolerance and compromise.

To understand that we are in a battle between good and evil is a relative “no-brainer”. To understand that the battle must be won everyday in our hearts and minds is an entirely different proposition. We are not fighting for popularity, we are not fighting to be looked upon favorably by the world. We are fighting (spiritually, of course) for good to triumph over evil. Jesus said, if they hate me, they will probably hate you. James writes, friendship with the world (system) is enmity with God. Those are not verses that encourage us to be friends of evil. But to overcome evil with good.

God’s throne is established in righteousness and justice. Holiness and help. Sacrifice and service. The battle lines are constantly trying to be redrawn. Who’s side will you be on?

Zechariah 4:10, “for who has despised the day of small things”. The prophet is speaking to Zerubbabel about rebuilding the temple. And it got me thinking about small things. I know many of us understand, theoretically, that character is built in the small things. For example, performing the right disciplines over and over again, will make you great at whatever your trade is. By making sound decisions in every little area of our lives, it will guide us in the big choices we face.

Alternatively, the small things we do towards the negative can have just as an important impact. At first it’s just a lie. The next thing you know you are on a plane to Argentina to have an affair. This was the case with the Governor of S. Carolina, Mark Sanford. It all started out as something small. This is only one case among millions. Somewhere along the path of life we all make a decision (or decisions) that seem small right now, but they have the potential to shape our destiny.

What small things have you done today? What small decisions have you made today? Are they going to help you achieve your dream? Will they build the Kingdom of God? Or will they end up blasted across the internet and plastered on the front page? (If they do make news, make sure they say you did something amazingly good.)

Don’t despise the day of small things. Cherish and celebrate every decision. And if you need to erase some “small things” (or big things for that matter), go to the Throne of Grace upon which Jesus Christ sits.