Over the triple doorways of the cathedral of Milan there are three inscriptions spanning the splendid arches. Over one is carved a beautiful wreath of roses, and underneath it is the legend, “All that which pleases is but for a moment.”
Over the other is sculptured a cross, and there are the words, “All that which troubles us is but for a moment.”
But underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is the inscription, “That only is important which is eternal.”
If we always realize these three truths, we will not let trifles trouble us, not be interested so much in the passing pleasures of the hour. We should live for the permanent and the eternal.
Mark 8:36
36 For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world [with all its pleasures], and forfeit his soul?
One thing that I always think about is that believers have majored in the minors and minored in the majors. One of the reasons we tend not to see the urgency in telling others about Christ is because we have misplaced priorities. We have become a shortsighted church where many only think about the here and now and what God can do for them. We invest so much on the temporal that is here today and gone tomorrow, that which pleases today but is gone tomorrow. We rejoice much more about material things than we do about a soul that has come into the kingdom. The bible says that the angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner comes into the kingdom.
We have forgotten that our focus should be to bear fruit. We are storing our treasure on earth instead of heaven and we are more concerned about the here and now than we are about eternity. Our priority should always be to seek ye first the kingdom of God and as we do that we should lead others in the same directions. As we do so, God knows that we have need of all these other things and He will ensure that they are added unto us.
We must go back to the realization that we are Coworkers with Christ and that we have a job to do and people’s lives are depending on it.
Let this Christmas be about telling people why Jesus came and the free gift of salvation he offers.
