More Than It Is

What kinds of things grab your attention? Now, I’m not talking about just any old thing like a person on the street wearing funny clothes, or an interesting movie, I’m talking about something that seizes your mind and fascinates you for a LONG period of time. Something eye-catching, mind-snatching, and sleep forbidding! When I ponder this query, I think of one thing that is plain and simple: hilarious things. I absolutely thrive on finding things that truly amuse me, whether it’s making a funny accent, reading credits on movies to find wacky names, knock-knock jokes, or regular old funny things with friends. Now other people who don’t really care about that kind of stuff would be interested in other things like various hobbies. Perhaps fishing. I’ve seen folks do that for hours! Or shopping. I’ve seen still more people who do that for hours! Reading is another one on the list. You ask people what kinds of things they do in their free time, and they begin to list off things similar to the list above. People’s hobbies are what they focus on, and are what a lot of their extra time is spent in doing.

But today I read a verse in the Bible that literally made me set the book down and just sit there and stare for a few minutes. It talked about Jesus ascending into heaven, and it said that after He left, “...the disciples were looking steadfastly toward heaven.” After I read that, I was forced to ask: Am I looking steadfastly toward heaven??? Well, if the Bible tells us that that’s what the disciples were doing, then what kinds of things did they do to make God say that? Throughout chapter two of Acts, it mentions that they were constantly witnessing, preaching to the people, meeting together with believers, praying, and taking communion together. I don’t know that I don’t quite meet that noble conglomeration of things. Sure, I read my Bible every day, have lots of Christian friends, pray, and take communion once a week, but how many of us can really say that we sit down for hours at a time reading the Bible, seize every chance we have to witness, and continue steadfastly in prayer?

It’s something that is definitely more important that anything else in life—more important than playing the guitar, or hanging out with friends. I mean, what are we even on the earth for? It’s not to accomplish a lot or have a good time (of course we all know that, but sometimes we don’t act like we know it). Our purpose, as people who have been bought with an expensive price, is to know Jesus more and more and more, and to do what He tells us.

So let’s not make friends or hobbies or work a strong priority. Let’s replace that stuff that we think we need and make God such a strong priority that our eyes are steadfastly looking toward heaven!