Keep your minds thinking about things in heaven. Do not think about things on the earth. Yep, if you can believe it I am still talking about treasures, our treasures in heaven. Are you familiar with the three T’s? The three T’s are time, treasure, and talent. I’ve been reflecting on how important those are to us in allocating our personal resources in our relationships with God, family, friends, dreams, ideas, jobs and so much more. Whatever we choose to make a priority will utilize all three T's. Time. Louis E. Boone once joked, "I am definitely going to take a course on time management... just as soon as I can work it into my schedule." In our culture today we are running ourselves ragged. We rush from appointment to appointment and all too rarely get to stop and smell the roses. Our life on this earth is finite. As such, each moment is running down the clock on our time here. Everything we do takes up that limited resource. The hour glass of our lives just keeps going. Recognizing that fact is necessary in understanding how best to make choices. Do you want to spend all your time in an office or on a golf course. Heck, I don't golf and yet that's an easy choice. There are things we have to do, but we don't have to give over all of our time to those things. Find balance, find the time for your passions and live it up! Treasure. When we look at Colossians 3, we know how important it is to focus on the treasures in heaven. We can also see how in all of our relationships those treasures will play a part. For example, if the treasure is hope, it will infect everyone around us with a sense of hope, it will affect how we view and do our job, it will direct how we respond to problems and it will determine if we pursue our dreams. Any of the treasures that come from heaven, anything that God has gifted to us will affect our lives considerably. It takes the treasures that we’ve been given in order for us have the right mind and heart to accomplish anything. Although the treasures in heaven are infinite, our ability to use them effectively is not. We are finite humans, we only have so much time and energy to be able to deal with everything in this life. We need to respect what we are able to accomplish, we may have big hearts wanting to love and protect every single person, but there are 7 billion people on this planet, that is gonna be really hard to accomplish. Talent. It will take the talents God has bestowed to truly live the way God wants us to live. Utilizing those talents for the relationships, goals, jobs and whatever else God has brought into our lives is their purpose. I have a knack for words. A friend of mine is always taking notes around me because she thinks gems of thought consistently fall out of my mouth. In reality, I just have the ability to turn a phrase. I chose to apply that talent to writing and sharing my life and thoughts on God with the world. First, figure out your priorities and then see how best your talents can be exercised for those priorities. We do not all have the same talents. Some people are singers, some people are fighters, some people are mechanically inclined, where other people are great thinkers, or teachers or builders or healers and so on and so forth. We each have a myriad of talents, we do not all have the same talents. So when those things come into your life that are great but do not suit your talents, recognize it and don’t put your energy there because that is meant for somebody else. Find the things in your life that God has for you. Ultimately, what we need to do is to seek God’s will in our life. It is through His will that we will find our true passions and talents and see where the Holy Spirit steps into the gaps. God wants to bless our socks off. One way He plans to do that is to show us His will in our life and to walk out that will.
Set your time, treasures and talents on all the wonder that God has for you and you will experience that “abundant and vital life.” Take a moment to think about one of your talents. Maybe at this moment you need to create something with God. Maybe you need to write a book, paint a picture, call a friend. Maybe you need to dance with Him. Wherever your heart is leading you right now, go do that with God.
0 Comments
Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm. I want to take a little more time tonight to examine Colossians 3:2. When I went to look at Colossians 3 to think about what to write tonight this verse from The Passion Translation jumped out at me. A few years ago a friend of mine spent several months praying over a single word, and that word was ‘taste’. God had inspired her to really understand what that word meant in relation to her and her relationship with Him. I am reminded of that now when I see the word feast in this verse. What is it that God wants me to feast on? In this verse of course I am directly instructed to feast on heavenly treasures, but I’m thinking deeper than that. What is it that God wants me to feast on in my relationship with Him? What has He brought into my life that He wants me to truly savor? What’s pulling my heart deeper into my relationship with Him? What do I see every day that makes me want to feast on this life all around me?
However I answer those questions, the point is that I am meant to feast. And so are you. He brings things into our lives like passions, ideas, people, hopes, dreams, joys, loves, and so many more that make life vital. Those are the things He wants us to feast on, to meditate and reflect and enjoy and be enlivened by. Pick one right now and just hold it close to you, put it in the center of your thoughts, deep in your heart and think about what wonderful delights it has brought into your life. Thank God. Thank Him for bringing the wonderful light, this thing or idea or person that you can truly feast on and be rejuvenated by. |
Author:
|
RSS Feed