Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Only Temporary” for Friday, 26 December 2014 - Scripture: Matthew 6: A Life of God-Worship
19-21 “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
22-23 “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
24 “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.
25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.[2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)]
While putting the Christmas ornaments away, I discovered that one of them — a handcrafted treasure commemorating our oldest child’s first Christmas — was beginning to disintegrate. Made of highly varnished bread dough, it had lasted almost 30 years. “I guess I should have known this one would be temporary,” I said and then realized that all the ornaments are temporary.
Ephemeral, inanimate belongings make up such a large part of daily life. Increasing numbers of us, it seems, have a hard time letting go of them. When we are faced with the agonizing need to dispose of a few cherished preschool drawings or sports trophies, it helps to remember that absolutely none of our material possessions will last forever.
Often it is not the items themselves but what they represent that I prize. As I learn to relinquish my grip on material things in favor of the intangible values they represent, I find the blessings of God’s presence each day. Though bittersweet, letting go of things offers the grace of deepened wisdom as we learn to move forward in life, relying only on God’s eternal presence.
The Author: Julia Denton (Virginia, USA)
Thought for the Day: Material possessions will pass away, but God’s love and truth will endure.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to let go of temporary things and focus on what will last — the truth you offer us in Jesus. Amen.
Prayer focus: Those trying to simplify their lives
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