One of life’s biggest dangers is the trap of the temporal. One writer notes that our “deepest devotions simply leak out of our bodies by how we spend our time and what makes us smile and what claims our energy.”[1] Most of our time and energy is spent on the things we will retire from and leave behind. When we are caught in the trap of the temporal, we burn out or wash out. But…there is a remedy.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Followers of Jesus are called to a bigger vision. We don’t fix our eyes on the temporary. We are called to eternal things that far outweigh temporal pleasure or pain. The focus and hope of eternity allow us to be “renewed day by day.”
So, we keep our focus on eternal things even when we can’t see them. In the crisp, clean air of mountaintop experiences, when our hearts are filled with joy, and we are tempted to think that this is as good as it gets, we keep our focus on the eternal. And in the dark, heavy air of the valleys, when our hearts are filled with despair, and we are tempted to think that if there is a God, then he has forgotten us, we keep our focus on the eternal, unseen things. Temporal things rust, rot, and decay. Eternal things…are good for now and forever.
Father, you have created us with eternity planted in our hearts. We long for something beyond ourselves and beyond our time. Keep our eyes fixed on our eternal future so we don’t lose heart in our temporal present. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
[1] John Ortberg, Soul Keeping (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 44.
I have come back and I start my day by listening to these devotions. They help me focus on what I need to. Today’s reminder on the eternal not temporal was great. I honestly do feel that the Lord does speak to me personally through these devotions. Everyday is preparation for tomorrow and today and tomorrow hold eternal.