Saturday, November 10, 2007

Today or Eternity? Which is More?

An appeal: visit the Manuelito Navajo Children's Home website. Remaking the site has been my work over the past couple of weeks. It is nothing flashy, but it provides a lot of information about MNCH. The Home has been blessing the children of the Navajo Nation for nearly 50 years. Please pray that we may continue to minister to those in need. If you can help us in our service, check out the website and see how you can be involved. We can use your help.

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Perhaps you have heard the story told by Sigmund Freud.

He told of a man who became shipwrecked and stranded on a remote island. Upon discovering the man, the natives of the island declared him to be "King for the Year." The man, while shocked, was excited about his newfound forture, until he began to wonder, "Where are all the past kings?"

To his horror, he discovered that once a king completed his year rule, he was exiled on a desserted island, left there to die.

The man, never a quiter, and quite resourceful, used his year rule not to live in luxury, but to prepare for his exile. He discovered the island to which he would be exiled. He sent a steady stream of workers to the island, commanding them to build a palace, and storehouses, and to provide all the comforts necessary for a life of ease. He commanded that servants be housed on the island and those who would serve as companions. At the end of his year-long reign as king, his intended exile had been transformed into a comfortable home.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6.19-21; NRSV).

What is your life focus? On what are your present energies being expended? Are you living for today, immersed in the pleasures of this world, or are you looking forward to the life to come? A life focused on the moment, solely concerned with what today can bring, is a life that in the end will forfeit the fullness of eternity to come. A year of luxury, or an eternity of fullness? Which is more?

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