things are temporary
Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) 19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
These versus remind us not to build our lives around temporary things. Our possessions, our status, and our success here on earth can disappear, but everything we put into God, and his kingdom will have eternal value! We have a choice in all things we do here on this earth and unfortunately most of those choices are based on earthly rewards, and this has happened a long time before our generation. In the parable of the rich fool in Luke12:15-21 (ESV) Jesus said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them the parable, saying “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
The man in this parable took such care to prepare his earthly needs but turned out to be a fool because he didn’t fulfill his moral responsibility caring for others. He was blessed with such an abundance of crops that he didn’t have enough room to store them. And his current storage space was plenty for him, but instead of sharing the excess with others he wanted to tear down his barn and make more room for himself when he didn’t need to. He chooses selfishness. This isn’t meant that you cannot be wealthy, Jesus clearly is warning us the dangers of complacency, and covetousness of wealth. This man thought oh am I going to have years of ease, but instead his selfishness is keeping him from his destiny with God.
The same things can be said for the temporary struggles we face on earth, maybe you lost your job or your vehicle broke down. These temporary struggles are just that, temporary! Our eternal relationship with God relies on us being able to see that it is temporary and not dwell on it because you can find a new job, a vehicle can be fixed but if we are so focused on all these temporary things, we lose our focus on God and what our purpose is in this world. To love and glorify God, to love and serve others, to sow the good word, to take dominion and care for the earth, to be fruitful!
2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV) 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.