Thursday, October 02, 2008

Prudence

Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20).

Our Lord always thinks ahead. He is never caught off guard or unprepared. When Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world, our heavenly Father had a plan ready to fix what they had broken. There in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were the first to hear about a Savior who would destroy the power of evil and bring sinful mankind back to its holy Creator.

But God thinks in the long term. Thousands of years would pass before Jesus was born among us to suffer and die. And two millennia have gone by since Jesus rose from the dead and returned to heaven; no one knows how much longer it will be before He returns to raise the dead and restore this world to perfection.

God wants us to think in the long term as well. He wants us to focus less on today and more on eternity. When we take the long view, it can drastically change the decisions we make here and now. Take an athlete, for example; few people like strenuous exercise, but by focusing on the future competition she hopes to win, the athlete finds the motivation she needs to keep at her training. Or consider a farmer plowing a field; if he spends most of his time gazing at the ground just a few feet ahead or keeps looking down to fiddle with his radio, the path he cultivates will be irregular and hard to plant. But if he keeps his eyes focused on a fence post at the far edge of the field, he can use that guide to plow a furrow that is straight.

When we take the long view, our lives can be freed from many foolish and hasty decisions. When you are focused on building a house big enough for a growing family, you start putting money into savings instead of spending it impulsively. When heaven is something you think about regularly, you will be more likely to support the church in it’s work to fill God’s home with forgiven people. When you take the long view, you realize that there is a limit to the time and resources God has given you—so you set priorities to help you in using those heavenly gifts wisely. Taking the long view involves planning; it requires discipline so that you don’t fall into the trap of only living moment to moment. The pleasures of this life never last for long; thankfully, there is happiness that never fades away. Jesus offers eternal joy; keep your focus on Him and this gift will be yours.

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