Cares of This Life

I have recently gotten caught up in cares of this life and ignored this blog. My inattention to my spiritual life and to eternal life reminds me Luke 21:34:

"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkeness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares."

It's so easy to get caught up in this life. I still spend time with Jesus daily, but it's only five minutes, and that's no where near enough. With relationships, quantity is just as important as quality. And what we should have with God is a relationship. One where we spend as much time with Him as we do with other people in our lives who we love.

It's also about priorities. I think I've stated before that Jesus is all that matters, everything and everyone else is secondary. When I think about the second coming of Christ, about this world and the fact that it is not permanent, then of course everything that I do here that has nothing to do with God's kingdom is meaningless.

People often use the Bible verse from Luke 19:13, "Occupy till I come," to say that we are not to be idle, but we are to be living our lives just as everyone else. But upon further inspection of that verse, I think the occupy has to do with living for God's kingdom - spreading His word and doing our part in saving as many souls as we can for His glory. The parable starts from verse 12, and goes on until verse 27. The master leaves his servants with talents that he expects them to invest and increase on his behalf. When he returns, he wants to see the results of their work. Maybe when Jesus used that parable and said to occupy until He comes, He meant for us to work to increase the harvest of His kingdom - not just for us to live life like everyone else.

Of course I'm not saying that we should all just drop everything and become missionaries. But that we should our daily lives with the main priority being God, and being to lead all the people we come into contact with to Him. Because when you think about it, that's ALL that matters. Nothing else means anything. Not the degrees we work so hard to get, not the jobs we work so hard to keep, not the clothes, shoes, and other material things we cherish - none of it.

It's easy to say, but it's difficult to remember all the time. Because that paper I have that's due in a couple days that I haven't started yet weighs on my mind. And other things just get in my way, and I feel like I put God on hold while I deal with everything else. It shouldn't be that way though. He wants a part in everything that we do, even the most mundane, that's how deep His love goes.

"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered..." Luke 12:7