|
|
|
What
Is the Most Important Thing to You? By
Tommy Thornhill I
am addressing this question to readers who believe in God, who believe in heaven
and hell and who believe that every person has an immortal soul which will spend
eternity somewhere after this life is over. But, before you answer the question
maybe you ought to give some serious thought to what it will be. Now to the
question. Is
your FAMILY the most important thing to you? Before you answer, let
me reply, “It should not be!” Remember, Jesus said,
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who
loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” Matt.10:37.
In his account Luke adds, “…brothers and
sisters” Lk.14:26.
Jesus is not denying family love is important, for it is. His point of emphasis
is that when He and His Father are given their proper position (placing Them
first – Matt.6:33; 22:36-40)
then man will know how to interact in family relationships since God not only
formed the family unit He gave the laws to regulate it. Following God’s law
will make the family what it should be, and you will learn how to properly
direct your love. Is
your PHYSICAL LIFE the most important thing to you? It should not be!
The Lord Jesus said, “He who loves his
life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life” Jn.12:25.
Is
WORLDLY PLEASURE the most important thing in your life?
It should not be! It was those who “are
choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life” Lk.8:14
which caused them to be lost. Paul warns that such people are “lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God” and describes them as people
“having a form of godliness, but denying
its power. And from such people turn away” 2.Tim.3:4-5.
Is
MAKING A LIVING more important to you than living the Christian life?
When “making a living” interferes with your responsibilities to God, the
church and your family; it becomes a liability. Making money should not be the
most important thing in your life. Jesus Christ said, “No
servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon” Lk.16:13.
Mammon is money. Is
HAVING WORLDLY FRIENDS more important to you than anything else? It
should not be! God tells us in Jas.4:4,
“Do you not know that friendship with the
world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God.” And again, “Do
not be deceived; evil company corrupts good habits” 1.Cor.15:33.
Is
BEING POPULAR WITH OTHERS the most important thing to you? It should
not be! The divinely inspired apostle Paul said “For
do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I pleased men,
I would not be a bondservant of Christ” Gal.1:10.
Is
LOVE FOR THE WORLD more important to you than love for God? It should
not be! God tells us “Do not love the
world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him” 1.Jn.2:15.
Conclusion:
What is the most important thing to YOU? After you eliminate the
above matters, you can begin to clearly see what the child of God has left as
the most important thing in life. To me the answer is very clear. There is
nothing more important in life than to know God and His Son. WHY? Let Jesus
answer. “And this is eternal life that
they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”
Jn.17:3. In
his “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” W.E. Vine points
out that the word “know” (ginoske)
is frequently used to indicate a relationship between the person knowing and the
object known i.e. what is known is of value and importance to the one who knows,
hence the establishment of a relationship. In other words, to know God and Jesus
Christ is to realize, recognize and understand completely that only by
establishing and maintaining an intimate relationship with the Father and the
Son will one be able to gain eternal life, to live forever with Them in heaven.
What could be of greater importance than this? So,
how do we come to know God and Jesus? “Now
by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says ‘I
know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not
in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.
By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself
also to walk just as He walked” 1.Jn.2:3-6.
How well do you know Them? & God's
Accuracy It's
amazing how our Heavenly Father so eticulously created the things around us. As
is highest creation, it is not hard to believe, "we are fearfully and
wonderfully made. " NOTE God's
accuracy and wisdom in the following creations: ·
The eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days. Those of the canary in
14 days. ·
Those of the barnyard hen in 21 days. ·
The eggs of ducks and geese in 28 days. ·
Those of the mallard in 35 days. ·
Parrot and Ostrich eggs hatch in 42 days. (Notice,
they are all divisible by seven) The
largest of land mammals (at least in our time) is the elephant. God gave this
great beast four legs that all bend forward in the same direction. No other
Quadruped is so made - but with four fulcrums it can rise easily from the
ground. The
horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A
cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first. Further
evidence of God's wisdom and accuracy can be seen in a number of other things
found in nature: ·
Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind. ·
Each orange has an even number of segments. Each ear of corn has
an even number of rows. Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains. ·
Every bunch of bananas has an even number on its
lowest row. Each row decreases by one - making one row an even number and the
next row an odd number. ·
Waves of the sea roll in on shore, twenty- six to the minute in
all kinds of weather. ·
All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks. The Lord
specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundredfold - all even numbers God
has caused flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that
Linnaeus, e great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory , containing
the right kind of soil, moisture, and temperature, he could tell the time of day
or night by the ones that were open and those that were closed. & Submitted
by Wayne Mullican ( |