If there was a fire and you could only save one thing, what would that one thing be? If you were on a deserted island and you could only have one thing what would that one thing be? Both of these questions have been used by numerous speakers and writers to illustrate what kinds of things we think are important and what kinds of things are truly important. Now to quickly give you my opinion as to what I would want on a deserted island, I’ll take a fully fueled boat. If that’s not available, how about a satellite phone with a GPS locater. Having one of those things might just save your life if you are deserted on some unfamiliar island. But are they really the most important things to have?
Let’s think about something different for a moment. Let’s think about a disaster. What would you try to save? For me, no matter what disaster is staring me back in the face: fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, etc., I want to save my family. I want to save people. Even though the loss of property and material blessings would not be fun or comfortable, and in fact might be painful depending on what we lose and how important it is to us physically, mentally, and emotionally, the loss of a person, a loved one, that is a loss that nobody wants to bear. But is this physical life the most important thing?
As people that are striving to be pleasing to God there is something we need to consider. There is something more important than the here and now. There is something more important than this physical life. Of course, protecting physical life and securing things we need for this life are important, so we should definitely do what we can for ourselves and others to help people physically, mentally, and emotionally. But we are not just physical beings. We have souls. We are not just living for the here and now, but instead we are living for eternity. Colossians 3:2 teaches us to, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Our minds need to be focused on spiritual things. Souls and eternity are far more important than anything this life has to offer. Our spiritual well-being and the spiritual well-being of others is so very important. Our spiritual family, the Church, is so very important. Let us do our very best to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” and let us strive to make God the most important in our lives. (Matthew 6:33).
Derek Broome