My key verse:
Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. – Proverbs 23:4-5 NKJV
Introduction
If I asked you that question, what would be your response? I imagine that your answer will be different that of mine, and most likely different from the next person I ask. What’s important to you may not be important to somebody else; that’s not to say what is important to you is not important. We all have different responses because what’s important differs from person to person.
Level of Importance
We learn at an early age that we should have both dreams and goals. If we do not dream, if we do not set goals, we will then find ourselves living a life with no direction. We then learn how to prioritize things by their level of importance – from greatest to least. We are either procrastinators or we the complete opposite, depending on the level of importance.
We are procrastinators: when something is of very little importance to us. We choose to take an “it’ll get done at some point” mentality when something is of little importance to us. We are dedicated and devoted: when something is of greater importance to us. When something is really important to us, we give all of our time, effort, energy, and spirit – we give it our all!
WATCH/READ this recent sermon: What does your heart say?
What is important in your life? Do you know? To find out, we must look at our hearts (mind and soul). I preached a sermon a couple of months ago about the desires of our heart; it is in our heart (mind and soul) where you find who a person is and what they hold to be important.
What do you deem important?
Some people deem their career to be important; nothing wrong with that, right? Some people deem their spouse and family to be important; again, nothing wrong with that, right? Others believe that their quality of life to be important; also, nothing wrong with that, right? If our career is important, we completely devote ourselves to that career. If our spouse/family is important to us, we completely devote ourselves to them. If quality of life is important to us, we completely devote ourselves to having a good quality of life. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with any of this personally.
However, I must also bring up the other life because I have been focusing solely on this physical life. You see, as I often point out, we have this physical life but we also have a spiritual life. After all, we are spiritual beings shelled in this our bodies. Is your spiritual life important to you?
Some people don’t believe their spiritual life is of great importance; they choose to ignore their spiritual life completely or give it very little time. In other words, they are procrastinators when it comes to their spiritual life. Some people would say their spiritual life is of importance but, again, they procrastinate when it comes to their spiritual life – their actions say different than their words. Others devote and invest much time to their spiritual life, regardless of their faith and religion.
Is God important? This is a question that we should not struggle to answer, but the struggle is real for many. For some, the answer is a flat out no; God has no importance in their life. These people aren’t procrastinators, they have made their decision and God is not in the equation; they give God absolutely no time. Others will say God is important but, again, their actions say different. They do not devote nor invest themselves in the Lord; they procrastinate and give God little to no time.
It has been said, if somebody really likes/love you, they will give you their time. In other words, if somebody likes/loves you, you will know by their actions. God has given us life, a life that we should all appreciate and be thankful for. However, we procrastinate or simply don’t care when it comes to our Creator and Lord. Let us deal with this today. If you fit into those two groups of people, I want to talk to you today, if you do not mind.
God should be important
What is more important than God? If you can procrastinate on the Lord, which means that something else has importance/priority over Him. To completely shut the Lord out is to say that God has no importance at all; many in this group believe that the Lord does not exist at all. They have chosen the world over God. To choose the world over the Lord is incredibly dangerous.
To say that the world is more important than the Lord, spells out the wrong type of devotion; it is a dooming type of devotion. We have already established that when something is important, we devote ourselves fully to it. If your eyes are only focused on the world, then you will miss and not see God until it is too late. You don’t want your head in the wrong place, and you don’t want to be looking in the wrong place.
I will call on Proverbs 23:5 now; Solomon says:
Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
Riches do mean wealth in the context of this verse. Solomon was giving wisdom to his son in the context of this scripture. He says, when you sit down with a ruler, do not want he has nor should you overwork to be rich. These are interesting words coming from Solomon, a man who was of great wealth.
Riches and wealth is also somewhat different from person to person. Not everybody is in search of money and great wealth. I think of the great saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. That being said, these riches that are being chased after are of this world. Solomon’s proverb still holds true even in this case; riches of this world will “fly away”. The riches of this world are here one day and then gone the next day.
Jesus also taught on this matter and we should certainly take a look at what Jesus said. Jesus says (Matthew 6:19), “do not lay up your treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” I’ve heard that moths can eat through anything; whether there is any truth in that, I do not know. Rust is certainly a destroyer of things like tin and metal, and people definitely look to steal from other people. This world is a mess and thank God that it is temporary.
If your treasure is in the world and of the world, it is only temporary – one way or the other, it will be destroyed. God Himself has plans which include the destruction of this world, this universe, and even this time! God is going to destroy all and then bring forth a new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1). If this world is your importance, you might as well wave goodbye to your treasure.
Life is certainly important, speaking of this physical life that we live. However, this life is temporary and it will pass. We must focus on the spiritual life, it is of great importance. The amount of time you spend in this life is a grain of sand compared to the spiritual eternity that awaits us all. You are going to spend eternity living as a spirit, either in heaven or in hell. We should not take our spiritual lives for granted and we should not take God for granted.
God is of great importance because He offers us all salvation. Instead of a living in damnation for all eternity, the Lord offers an eternal home in His kingdom. To me, this is very important to know and to understand because I much rather live an eternal life in happiness after living in this world. Stop putting God and your spiritual life on the back burner! You procrastinate long enough and it will certainly be too late.
When I ask what is important, our spiritual life should also make the list. When I ask is God important, we should immediately answer yes. We should then learn how to prioritize and devote ourselves to the Lord and our spiritual life. Lay up your treasures in heaven where it cannot be destroyed by moths and rust; where it cannot be stolen by thieves. Lay up your treasures where you can and will spend all eternity in the Lord’s house.
Bible References:
Matthew 6:19-20 – Lay up your treasures in heaven
Revelation 21:1 – New Heaven, New Earth