It was a freezing cold day, as I clutched my daughter’s hand and ran for the grocery store, our plastic store bags whipped out of the carrier bag and disappeared. My five year old daughter screeched in horror and bolted out in the busy parking lot to save the bags. Luckily my mother of four instincts kicked in and I grabbed her before her thought fully materialized and traveled down to her legs.
As I shook my head at the lunacy of charging after empty bags it occurred to me that quick bolt reaction to chase after useless things is not uncommon. We see something, being torn away from us and our gut reaction is to chase it down and reclaim our prize. Never once checking to see was it even worth chasing after? Or most importantly did we look to see what we would lose if we chased after garbage? Our very lives or the lives or our children.
Jesus asks us to lay down our garbage; anxiety, depression and meandering thoughts at the cross. We have to give up the useless to gain the eternal. At the very instant of relenting and releasing to the Lord, we leap out and grab it back. Never mind that Mack truck in the busy parking lot, hurtling at us. We could have noticed that truck, had we been focused where God wanted us to be. Not in useless junk but in the eternal rewards He desperately wants to give.
How many trucks in our lives could we avoid, if we laid down our tattered garbage, called pride and rebellion to the Lord. We could be living in triumph, victory over our past and present lies and pain. What it comes down to is, we lack vision. God’s vision. We see the flashy, earthly things and view them as treasures to be hoarded, while ignoring the eternal things. The eternal things that need to be searched for to be found.
Lord Jesus: Please grant me Your vision. Let me see the things, people and activities that I spend my money, time and effort on for what they are. Are they useless earthly flash or are they eternal rewards. Align us to your Word and will Lord God. Let us put first things, first and let go of familiar but faulty thinking. Your ways are so far above our ways. Lord God we don’t want to miss out on You to watch TV. We don’t want to run out of time to pray to keep up on Facebook. What we do matters. Every seemingly small decision has eternal consequences. Keep our focus rock solid on you. Light your path on fire for us God. Make it obvious where each footstep should fall. Align us God to Your priorities. Help me to search for and find Your treasures. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
To Strengthen a Mother's Heart 