A New Focus

Saturday morning I went to an estate sale with my mom, sister and aunt. Though I didn't leave with anything I could hold in my hands, I sure came home with a lot of thoughts.

There was so much stuff there. In addition to furniture and pots and pans, there were books given at Christmas time dated in the 1930's. There were diplomas to Medical School and books given from a relative who attended Berry College in the late 1920's. There was a photograph of a graduating high school class from over 70 years ago. There were journals, piano music and Catholic prayer books. There was a local newspaper dated 1939, talking about some team who won a championship. There were baby booties that had clearly been worn. There were homemade crocheted pillow cushions and a gorgeous bedspread that was handmade.

So many things...all being auctioned off to a bunch of strangers who were foaming at the mouth to get the best price. They didn't look at this stuff with love, it was just material, something to grace their own home or to sell in an antique shop.

I could see my own life in the lady of the house, named Sarah. She had old, worn out cook books with an old obituary marking her place. There were gardening books telling her how to grow apple trees. There was an old parenting book. This woman was a mother and a wife just like me, only seventy plus years ago.

I can't help but come home and look around my own house. I have a lot of the same things she had, only much newer and updated. The things I hold close to me will one day be left behind, as I go on ahead. How many times have I wished for a new dress or a new car or a new whatever? How many minutes have I wasted in a store deciding on what to buy? So much wasted time when I could be doing something more useful. How many times have I gotten upset over something my chlidren broke?

As the old saying goes, there are only two certainties in life-death and taxes. One day I will die and all of my stuff will still be here. What will happen to it all? Will it be treasured and loved by a grandchild of mine or will it be auctioned off to strangers? If I really think about it, it doesn't matter what happens to it. I'm quite sure that the last thing on my mind as I sit at my Saviors feet and bask in His magnificent glow, is "I wonder what happened to all of my stuff!"

Eternity is what our real focus should be on; not on what we have or don't have. Who are you taking with you to eternity? Is there someone you aren't sure is a christian? Is there a close friend or family member who isn't saved by grace? Start praying that the Lord will open the door and you can plant some seeds. The fact is, one day we will all be gone and our stuff will still be here. What will your focus be today?

"As for man, his days are like grass,

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and in its place remembers no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord's love is with those who fear him,

and His righteousness with their children's children-

with those who keep His covenant

and remember to obey His precepts.

Psalm 105:15-18