The Most Important Question

I love sunsets. Looking toward the afternoon sky, watching the sun settle beyond the horizon fills me with an unexplainable peace as the pinks and soft blues say goodby to yet another day. Closing my eyes, I breathe deeply, drinking it all in. It lasts but a moment, for inevitably, the reminder of what was left undone, like water seeping in, tries to drown out the peace that has enveloped me. Regret takes over as thoughts of wasted time—Why did I did thus and so? Or, Why didn’t I do this instead of that—nags at the back of my mind.

Has this happened to you?

Those thoughts are not necessarily a bad thing. It is wise to take an accounting of our days.

—“So teach us to number my days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12 ESV—

But looking at these verses, as if through a prism and seeing them from a different light, what has been ricocheting around in my head is not just, “Lord, forgive me for wasting time, but please forgive me for doing what I want, instead of what You want.” Putting my needs above another—especially under the guise of selflessness—seems to be where I operate more often than not.

When we begin to see life—the whole kielbasa—through God’s eyes though, we see it through a different lens. Not just what is immediately important to ourselves, but to what matters most. Eternity.

More than a decade ago, the Lord brought this point home. There was someone in my life who had hurt me deeply. Feeling justified in holding onto pain and unforgiveness, the Lord however, went right to what I needed most. With pinpoint precision came this question, You don’t want to see her in Hell, do you? And with my response, “Yikes, no, not at all, Lord,” He began to change me.

Relationships are messy, and too often we make less than the best choice when it comes to truly caring for each other. We forget to walk in one another’s shoes. If we looked at every interaction we have, admitting how often we ourselves disappoint and miss the mark, would compassion take the place of judgement? Would we truly love each other more by looking past the immediate, and into the eternal?

In Luke 16:13, Jesus is talking to His disciples—the Pharisees within earshot—about loving two masters.

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Though these verses are specific to money, the meaning can trickle into all areas of our lives, even into where we invest our hearts.

If we love our will being done more than His, we are indeed in trouble. We have such a limited perspective. We see only what’s in front of us. God, who is inside and outside of time, sees it all.

Jesus is coming again, more likely sooner than later. The question now is, Whom do you truly love?

Heavenly Father, please have mercy on me, and help me to see as You do. Please make my heart one with Yours. Please help me to love others more than myself. And please work in me to love Your will far more than my own. Please help me to love You the most. Thank You, Lord. It’s in Jesus name. Amen

Kimberly