Creation is as surface. As the flesh covers the greater interior workings of man, so this creation is of surface to the eternal. The spirit is unseen; the soul contained but ungrasped. These are of the eternal. The body corruptible is but a tabernacle, that the eternal may dwell in it. He who sees clearly the earth, sees only as he who sees the surface of the sea, but enters it not and knows not the life within. But he who sees what is past the physical, although not fully, is he who seeks the things of the Father. Look about you. The things of wood and sand, elements of color and texture, these are of only dust, held together for time, but condemned to decay, returning again to whence it came. Look even at the gold of the world and to its owners proud, for fleeting is its pleasure and valueless in death. He who claims Christ, claims far greater than the temporal. He who follows the Way, sets sites beyond the gold, and he who seeks the heart of God, lives in faith for what is immeasurable and unseen. This is the great test of man, that he would choose the eternal to the temporal, the unseen amidst the seen, and follow My voice among distraction and doubt. It is he who believes and is saved. The depths of what is to come is as the sun to the spark, as life is to death. Deeper you are called than the lost. Do not be enticed by the shimmer of the shallow. It is the timeless, limitless God you must seek.
2 Cor 4:17-18 (ESV) – For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Bottom Line: We are called to work diligently for our bosses, and we try to earn what we can to provide for those we love. This is biblical and necessary. Where we are tricked, even as dedicated followers of Jesus, is that we tend to focus too much on the temporal; career advancement, financial independence, obtaining things of the world, instead of pursuing the things of God and relationship with Him. Good Christian parents spend tens of thousands of dollars to give their children a good education, but can fall woefully short in investing in helping them to build a rock-solid faith. We get fixated on the good things the world has to offer and we rarely look past it. We must work to see what God has to offer to those who love Him and seek His Kingdom as hard as we seek the temporary kingdom of this world. Remember, this is a pit stop, a beautiful and good one, but nothing more than a colorful paper wrapping over what God is really wanting us to seek – His Kingdom, His purposes, and higher that all else, He Himself.
