dwelling on the near and now

for the faithful few of you that read this, i'm sorry for the super long absence on the blog. but after posting every day in september, i needed a break. and i didn't really have anything i felt was worth writing, much less reading. but, i'm back. and i have a few thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head that i wanna get out.

as i was sitting in bible study (2 peter, precepts style) last week, all the thoughts bouncing around in my head came out in one simple phrase...

dwelling on the near and now

too often i'm guilty of this. i wouldn't say that i'm consumed by material things, but i do think about them a lot and elevate them in my mind over eternal things. i mean, who doesn't love a good sale? it's boot and cardigan season after all, right? and thanks to pinterest, i can find a "need" for all sorts of ruffly tops and crafty items and jewelry pieces i don't have, but obviously need.

well, i've talked before about living with an eternal perspective. and, while i do that on occasion, 2 peter urges us to think like that all the time. to shift my perspective and priorities from the temporal to the eternal. to trade the tinsel of this world for the gold of heaven. because that's all this is, right? tinsel.

tinsel for treasures.

to start, i have to look at my spending log. am i spending my paycheck on clothes and shoes and jewelry and books and crafts? or am i looking for more ways to give? my finances certainly aren't the only way to find out, but they're a pretty accurate one. i mean, how much does it really matter if i have trendy pieces that are "in season" or i've read the latest additions to the NY Times Bestseller list or made a super cute craft that would make Martha jealous? it doesn't. none of that will matter. sure, it matters to us here and now, because that's what we see every day. it's our near and now.

but in the end, it makes no difference. the lives we impacted for eternity, the needs we met as His hands and feet, the glory we brought to His name. that will last. that will matter in eternity. not the near and now. that, that will fade.

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.