Do you have a life verse? What about a life motto? What about something you want to be remembered by, or for?
Sometimes school becomes so busy for me. Even when I'm not doing it, it's all I'm thinking about. When I try to have fun, I'm thinking of how I should be doing notecards. As I'm writing, I'm thinking I have a math exam tomorrow and I should be transforming functions instead of jotting down my ideas. I guess it is something I chase- the good grade. That isn't always bad, unless it's in excess. You might think that sounds crazy, but let's be realistic, you do it too, even if it's not with school.
What do you chase? What do you run after that it becomes so consuming it is all you think about? For me anything I do has to be done 100%-there is no half way or less than perfect. I see it as a strength. But sometimes I let my greatest strength become my greatest weakness. (I didn't come up with that line, credit is to Jim Achatz ;)) I love being perfect in tasks, I love doing them to the best of my ability and when I really care, I love that I refuse to give up. But sometimes it's just too much.
Sometimes what you are chasing after is just too much too. Let's jump back to the first questions. What do you want to be remembered by? I don't just mean when the end of your life comes, I mean when your coworkers and you don't work together anymore, or when you're 20 years post college and your old colleagues see you as a friend suggestion on Facebook (if that even exists).
Do I really want people to say "That Evelyn, she had a 4.0, but all she did was school." Do you want people to say "wow, they have a lot of money, but it must be lonely." What about, "They work non-stop." I can keep going...and so can you. Let's look inside.
Where is all of your time spent? What do you chase relentlessly without even realizing it?
I guess as you would assume, this brings me to Solomon. The wisest man who ever lived, and also the richest.
Solomon had everything: a thousand women (literally), endless riches, money, and power. Yet, at the end of his life he wrote "and this is the duty of mankind...fear God and keep His commandments." Basically everything else was worthless to him.
Everything he chased, added up to nothing when compared to chasing the Kingdom of God.
To answer my own previous question: I used to think my life verse was Galations 1:24 "and they praised God because of me." This was a great goal, my life goal, it still is. But then I read Psalm 73 in depth and it rocked my world. In Psalm 73, the author begins by being almost jealous of the evil people. Their easy, carefree lives filled with possessions, and then his tone quickly changed when "he entered the sanctuary of God" (verse 17). The author began to realize that all of their gains were losses to Christ. There was nothing wrong with being wealthy and worry-less, but they idolized it. Going down, verse 23 and on is what really hit me.
"Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."
There is nothing that compares to this. Nothing compares to always having Jesus with you. Nothing compares to being counseled by the one who designed life. Nothing compares to the strength God gives. The author puts into perspective that our heart and flesh may fail, but God never will. He will always sustain us. When we are old and grey, He is still with us. Then I found my real life verse. The other one was great and I still have it as my goal, but this verse, is amazing-the cry of my heart.
"But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."
God is my refuge and my strength, all my life I will tell of His deeds. As for me, it is good to be near God, nothing else compares in this world. No matter what we chase, the conclusion of the matter is this: What matters most? When we enter the kingdom of heaven, what will you have?
I want to have words spoken over me by the Father, words of a friend, a close companion, that I just haven't seen for a while.
Grace and Peace,
Evelyn
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