PRIORITIES
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
I read an article written by a young woman who was tipped to be one of the top fifty evangelical leaders in the USA, yet in that same year, she failed in her relationship with the man that she was hoping she would marry. She lost him to a mutual friend, who spent time with that man listening to his stories and waiting patiently for him. This poor woman was working so hard for the Lord that she completely missed out on the man in her life and of course, never recovered from that.
We need to be so careful where we are putting all our energy and strength. Sometimes we are so busy doing the work of the Lord that we forget the Lord of the work. Mark 8:36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
I heard a very true saying the other day, 'Hell is knowing the truth too late', we really need to hear from the Lord.
But hallelujah! God is so much bigger than all our mistakes. We have to enjoy our time at the present moment and love each other. We have to be gentle with each other, we have to be full of compassion for each other because we have no idea what tomorrow may bring.
Life is truly just a vapour and we have seen it so much in this last year - here today gone tomorrow.
“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
What a true description of our lives. Those who think they can live forever, are sadly mistaken. There is that story in the Bible of the rich farmer who had a bountiful crop. He said he would just break the barn down and build a bigger one for his harvest, then he could sit down, eat, drink and be merry - but the Lord said, 'Foolish man, for this very night I will require your soul.' Please let us not neglect this precious time that we have with one another - let us live it to the full.
This past weekend I had the privilege of going with a large group of my grandchildren on a mountain bike ride through the forest which is next to our farm, Shalom. They range in age from twenty years old right down to five years old. We made a fire in the forest and we cooked some boerewors (sausage), we had cowboy coffee, which is basically condensed milk and coffee. We ate some chocolate Easter eggs that were leftover from Easter - we had an amazing time together.
I was able to sit and listen, not talk so much, but listen to my grandchildren. Boys and girls talking to each other and it was fascinating for me because normally I am the one that does the talking. This time I was quite happily, sitting there (very tired) listening to all the stories they were telling us about their hardships, their victories, excitement for the future and the new year at school etc. I just realised that it was just the other day my own children were that age and now these were their children. My dear friend, do not waste time. Time is of the essence, let there be no regrets in your life. Pick up that phone, speak to that loved one.
I just close with commandment number five which is: 'Honour your father and mother so that your days may be long in the land. It’s the first commandment in the Bible with a promise added to it. We need to honour our parents and our loved ones and we need to spend as much time as possible with each other. I think the only good thing that’s come out of this whole Corona Virus catastrophe is that with the lockdown we have had more opportunities to spend with each other as a family.
So may God bless you richly as you use that time profitably with your loved ones and obviously, spending lots of time together with the Lord.
God bless
Angus and Jill Buchan