What's Important?

What is most important to you? What truly lives inside your heart? Do your actions and decisions reflect your dedication to these things in life? Is there anything you can physically do to better express these internal feelings? What is holding you back?

I must admit that this exercise takes more than a few minutes. In fact, I have been thinking about these questions since I left church, and I plan to contemplate them all week long. I want to reflect on each day to find out if I am honestly showing what lives in my heart. I want to make sure that I am not missing opportunities to promote the things that are most important in my life.

When I think about my past and things that were important to me, I am filled with feelings of regret. I can't help but to remember times I should have physically expressed myself differently. For some reason or another, I simply held back.

Why? What stopped me from taking a few moments to give a heart felt thank you? What kept me from making those things that were important to me know they were important to me? Also, what might have been different if I never held back?

This morning Pastor Greg Lee spoke of an event earlier in the week that provided one of those moments that absolutely put everything in perspective for him. He continued to share how it made him look at his life and really reach out to what was most important to him. He hugged his children a little tighter... held his wife a little closer... and praised God a little stronger. After everyone demanded to know what the incredible event was, he admitted that there was no specific occurrence... however he made a very good point.

As Greg shared his realization, every person in attendance was relating to the experience. We are often provided these wake up calls and have all at some point or another felt exactly how he said he was feeling. However, sometimes it can simply be too late to make the changes needed to reflect what lives in our hearts externally. The time needs to be now. Hug our children tighter today... Tell the special people in our lives just how special they are... Reach out and praise God right away... we simply cannot wait for adversity.

In the second message of the "txt: How to Read Your Bible" series, we discussed the amazing things that happened to Paul in Acts and Philippians. Even though what happened to him was unjust, what happened through him was incredible. Because he expressed what was in his heart in everything he did, he was able to make what was important to him flourish.

Paul advanced the Gospel through circumstances that otherwise would have been disastrous, and he was rewarded with true joy. I believe that we too can move past intermittent happiness and into a world of pure joy. However, we must live our lives just as Paul did making the most important things in our lives important in every action and decision we make.