What Matters!

Mary Engelbreit provokes us to think with these words: "If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it." She is talking about what we call in common vernacular, gaining a new "perspective" or point of view. How you look at things – and people – really can make a huge difference. A man was driving in the countryside one day when he came upon an old man sitting on a fence rail. The old man was watching cars go by. Stopping to pass the time of day, the traveler said, "I would never be able to stand living out here. You never see anything, and I’m sure you don’t like to travel as I do. I’m on the go all the time." The old fence-sitting man looked down at the stranger and drawled, "I can‘t see much difference in what I’m doing and what you’re doing. I sit on the fence and watch the autos go by and you sit in your auto and watch the fences go by. It’s all in the way you look at things." 

So how do you look at things? Many people don’t like the view from where they are. They convince themselves their lives would be new and improved and much better if they could change how they look or how much money they have or who they are married to or where they work or live or go to church. Are you really happy with where you are and who you are with and with what you have? And if you aren’t why aren’t you? Is some thing or some other person really responsible for your attitude and why you look at things the way you do? In 1 Corinthians 7 the apostle Paul addressed the physical circumstances his original first century readers were in sometime around 56 A. D. He spoke of a "present distress" they were facing in verse 26. In verses before and after that verse he addresses how his readers should view such things as marriage and being single or even what they should do if they are divorced (see verses 1-16). In verse 17 he directs, "Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches" (ESV). In verses 18-24 he refers to the very prevalent practices (in the first century) of circumcision and slavery and in effect tells them that if they can ’t change the circumstance they are in, then change the way they think about it! And exactly what is it he wants them to think? Verses 19-20 answer: "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping commandments of God is what matters. Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called." He directs slaves in verse 21 (Christian slaves they were!) that if they can change their status from slave to free, they ought to change it. But whether slave or free, he reminds them in verse 22, they still belong to Christ! If they can’t change the circumstance, "don’t be concerned about it" (verse 21). The truth is, friend, we are sometimes a lot more concerned about changing our circumstances than God is! It’s not that some changes we desire are not important – some surely are. But let us be careful to remember – at the end of the day, "keeping the commandments of God is what matters." God knows where you are and who you are, and He loves you and desires for you to serve Him right there. In the words of 1 Corinthians 7:24, "...remain with God." That’s what matters more than anything else. Won’t you think about it?

– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN