Indicators of what hold value to us

Time and money are both indicators of what is important to us. Without words people gauge what is important to you by what you spend your time and money on. We can say we care but until we actually take time out of a busy schedule just how much we care will always be questioned by others. If a relationship is important to you then you take time to develop that relationship and the things that are important to that individual are important to you. These principles are also true with you relationship with God. Do you tithe? What about ministry – do you volunteer at church? Do you help the needy and those who are struggling? Do you do these things in spite of your circumstances or schedule? Did you know an indicator of our spiritual condition is our checkbook? Our family was invited to a Bar Mitzvah this past Saturday and as we sat through the three parts of the morning service, Shachartit, the Torah reading, and Musaf I was reminded of the Old Testament when God told Israel to do certain things and specifically how and when to do them. It had less to do with what they felt like and more to do with doing it because it was important to them. Today, like Israel, we have been given direction from God through His Word, the leading of His Holy Spirit, our life of worship, prayer, and study. We don’t do these things because we feel like it. Don’t misunderstand many, many times I love to do these things because it brings me closer to God but what about when I don’t feel like doing them do I simply stop? What kind of life would that be? My son spends a lot of time working out and training, regardless of being hit by a car almost a year ago he is one of the most physically fit people I know. Ask him where he would be if he only trained when he felt like it. The same is true of the spiritual life, you see feeding and exercising your spirit are just as important as feeding and exercising your physical body, no even more so because one day this physical being, in spite of all we do to remain healthy, will pass away but God has made our spirit man to be eternal – to be with Him in glory. The Bible has much to say about money and the time Jesus spent with His disciples was hard to understand from the time He called Peter and Andrew out of their boat to be fishers of men until He returned to His Father. By reading about Jesus’ ministry and then seeing His departure into Heaven we know the things that were important to Jesus became important to those He spent time with. Like money our time is limited so we choose carefully where it goes. I have friends that are important to me but those relationships are not as important as my relationship with my wife but that doesn’t mean I don’t make time to develop those friendships. Often my friends are those I come in contact with on a regular basis and have the same interests as I do but even then there has to be an understanding between us. My obligations as Christian, husband, and father come first and they must respect my choices but if I offer more excuses than time at some point the expectation of importance at the level of friendship falls below the threshold of value and they fall away.