What Matters

Too many things in my life are urgent. I'm having that reckoning. My husband's been telling me this for a long time, but I guess the message is finally starting to register. I live in a state of urgency, about everything. The problem is, not everything matters.

The blog How Sweet Eats recommended some Lazy Genius podcasts recently, and being the podcast junkie that I am, I tuned in. The content of the podcasts were helpful, but the tag line got me: "Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't." I act like everything matters. Some things just don't. They can't because this life is one of finite resources.

I hate the term, "lazy." I don't think it fits with the Christian ethic of hard work as unto the Lord (Col 3:17, 23-24). Priorities, though. Those are what matters. Paul writes in Colossians 3:2, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (New International Version, 2011). Matthew writes, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6:21). When my heart is on everything here on earth, my mind is definitely not on things above. When I make everything urgent, I act like this earth is my sole treasure, and that I am not responsible for protecting it. I am not. 

King David in the Old Testament had a lot on his plate. Measuring by the externals, he had a lot more than I do to worry about. He ruled over kingdoms that had been divided. He had trouble in his family. He owned a lot of stuff. Still, he could write, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it" (Ps 24:1). He could still his heart and tell himself the truth. From that place, he could rely on the Lord to work towards the life he believed God wanted for Him.

I can do this, too. I may not be able to the have the life I want in earthly terms, but I can watch and wait for God's direction. I can start to ask what matters, and what doesn't. I can start making my treasure in heaven, rather than on earth.

I can't have the life I want. I said I surrendered this when I chose to follow Jesus. If I want to choose to continue to follow Jesus, I need to say with Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). I have life with Christ. That is what matters.