Main Thought
It’s easy to be enticed by everything the world has to offer. Some things might make us feel good or look good. We may want to have things or do things that cause people (including ourselves) to see us in a better light. Interacting with the world’s temporary, fleeting pleasures inappropriately creates problems. Sometimes, we overspend on things that end. We might also try to rely on temporary things and experiences to bring us fulfillment. But temporary things can only bring temporary happiness.
God created us to be satisfied by more. There’s a hole the size of eternity in our hearts, and only God can fill it. If we want Him to do that, then we need to turn our focus from the temporary to the timeless. We should seek God first, and store up treasures in Heaven. If we do those things, then we’ll eventually discover that living for things that last will produce a satisfaction that lasts.
Main Passages
Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.
- Proverbs 12:9
One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
- Proverbs 13:7
11He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.
- Ecclesiastes 3:11, AMP
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Matthew 6:19-21
Discussion Questions
What stands out to you in the Main Thought or main Passages above?
Think about a deeply satisfying experience that you’ve had. What made the experience satisfying? What can that moment teach us about living for eternity?
What’s one thing you can do to “turn your attention from the temporary to the timeless,” and live with eternity in mind?