When I got to room 1420, Matt’s room, I found that he already had a roommate – a fellow youth commission member, so I returned to the front desk for a new assignment.
I was moved to a room with an amazing view on the 18th floor, the Executive Level. I had it good there. Opening the door, I discovered a bathrobe laid out neatly at the end of my bed. A sachet with ear plugs and a sleeping blindfold lay on top of it. Seven pillows were piled at the head of the bed – feather pillows and foam pillows. On both beds I found two fancy chocolates. I was wasn’t going to have a roommate until Friday, so...I ate all four that first night. I shared later. Really, I did. Every morning when the maids cleaned my room and made my bed, four new chocolates appeared on the night stand.
Even with all these amenities, I was ready to leave when it was time. This place was nice, but it wasn’t home. It was just a temporary dwelling place.
You know what? Way too often, I forget that this world is not my home. I’m guessing you do to. It’s a natural human tendency. You and I get to thinking about the stuff of this life and forget what really matters. We focus in on the things that make us cozy here and now. We look for security in bank accounts and investments. We depend on our jobs for peace of mind. We chase after temporary happiness with our credit cards. We seek pleasure in entertainment and recreation. We run after fitness and health in diet and exercise. And we find none of what we long for. No real security. No enduring peace of mind. No true happiness. No lasting pleasure. No perfect health.
We shouldn’t be surprised. Solomon, Israel’s wise man, warned us. After years of seeking pleasure, he wrote these words.
"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:11-12, NIV)
And he says the same thing over and over again throughout this book of his. "Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" (12:8, NIV)
There is only one thing in this life that truly matters. That one thing is your relationship with God. Only this one thing will last forever. Your marriage, as important and valuable as it is, will end when you die. Your kids will grieve your passing, but they will go on with their lives. Your friends will miss you for awhile too, but not forever. Your bank account will be emptied and spent by someone else. You employer will find someone to replace you soon after you’re gone. Your stuff will be left behind to rust and rot and, at the end of all things, be burned up.
So how is your relationship with God? Is your faith growing? Are your actions and attitudes becoming more like Jesus’? Do you hear God more clearly than you did last year? Are you longing for more?
Let me spur you on. Go after God. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30, NIV) That’s the first and greatest commandment. It’s a call to abandon yourself to God, to give yourself completely to him. It’s a call to wholehearted devotion and unconditional obedience.
God can and will take care of your temporary needs if you’ll follow him. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and he’ll clothe you and feed you and satisfy your thirst. He’s promised to meet those needs. Trust him and go after the things that will last.
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email and join the "webmessage" discussion group, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages (there are well over 100) are available at www.associate.com/groups/webmessage.
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