Isaiah 55:2 “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”
There was a story on our local news last week about a woman camping out at a local store waiting for Black Friday. We will sometimes go to great lengths to save money, but in this case she arrived five days before Black Friday. She stated to the interviewer she was not going to leave this spot until she left with what she had come for. I wondered if this woman had a family at home or other people in her life that cared about her. What if during those five days some tragedy would befall someone she love? Would that time spent sitting in front of a store bring her comfort? In order to save a few dollars, what was this costing her in precious time, a commodity that in reality is more valuable than all the money in the world? What amount of money would we spend to have one more minute with our precious children? You cannot possibly put a price on that!
The accumulation of stuff and the time lost in accumulating it was once more brought home to me. My husband and I had to pack up his brother’s house. His brother recently died suddenly from a heart attack. So many years working hard and when all is said and done, most of it was donated or taken to the dump. In a matter of two days all of his stuff was gone. Now I know we need to have our comforts in this life, but at what cost? Do we have a healthy balance about our stuff and about the people we have in our lives? This is just not about money spent, but also about time spent. During this holiday season it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season. If we really look at what is important, it does come down to the time we spend with those we love. We who have lost our children understand that better than anyone.
Lord, help us with our priorities. If we always keep You first, everything else will fall into place. It is only through You we can remember what is important in this life.
