What if...

While I was working through the list of repairs I agreed to perform on my house before escrow closes on April 13th, I thought about all the time, effort, and money I poured into the house since the day Laura and I bought it.  Little was left undone:  both bathrooms and kitchen gutted and replaced, all new flooring, lighting, doors, some windows, retaining walls, fences, cabinets, driveway, electrical service change, on and on.

The thought occurred to me:  how much richer a man would I be if I had invested such time and energy pursuing relationships with people?  Where would I be now if I had used those tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours blessing others in the name of Jesus?  It's ironic, but the financial gain from that house will assist our family to embrace the call God has placed upon our lives to serve Him in Australia.  It is hard to pour so much into a home and sell it, just like it is hard to lay down a ministry when it is fulfilled.  But by God's grace we have seen the beginnings of the fruit of our labor with these eyes and rejoice in God's provision.

If we are never challenged we will likely never be changed.  Only God has the power to make or change a man.  How would our lives be enriched if we had a change of perspective?  What if instead of waxing our car we took our aged grandparent out for a special meal?  What if we chose to pray instead of watching one of the three TV shows we watch every night?  What if we took the time to write letters to everyone we love rather than frittering away time chatting with people we don't even know on myspace or facebook?  What if instead of snapping at our children when they interrupt us we put down the paper, book, or turn off the computer, and invest time in them doing things they enjoy?  I am certain we would be richer for it.

As important as all these relationships are with family and friends, our relationship with God is most critical.  He is our Creator, the one who first loved us and gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sin.  We will spend eternity with Him, so let us invest now in eternity by cultivating a close relationship with Him now.  When I asked a girl to prom I hardly knew, she asked for my number and said, "Since we're going to the prom, we might as well get to know each other."  This seemed logical to me.  The prom is a single dance on a single night where no real commitment is involved.  No big deal, really:  I asked a girl to a dance and she agreed.  She was not committing more than a single date to me, yet she saw the value of getting to know me before the date of the dance.

When we choose to follow Jesus Christ, we are not agreeing to buy a tux and rent a limo for a single night:  we are making the commitment of eternity.  Shouldn't we seek to know Him better while on earth?  What if we made a real commitment to pour ALL of ourselves into seeking God?  God made a promise to His people, even after they were scattered and worshiped idols:  Deut. 4:27-29 says, "But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."  What if we seek the LORD with all our heart?  The answer is here:  we will find Him.  We will be known by Him, and He shall be known by us.  This is worth more than all the houses in the world.