Your house is on fire. Your family is safe. There's time to return for one armful. What would you save? The Scriptures list worldly baggage, appearing important, but that won't matter a day after you die. The Bible also says there can be things in your life today that will last forever. Knowing the difference is a happy art.
The guide at the archaeological diggings in Beit Shan, Israel, told us an earthquake destroyed the city in 747 A.D. We gazed at the ruined temple of Dyonesius - god of wine. When the ground trembled drunkards staggered out in fear. Under toppled pillars a skeleton was found clutching a bag of gold. Wine and gold, pleasure and riches, two things that matter little when your world falls apart!
Faith, hope and love endure for eternity. Even this only matters if they are part of your character. Here's the test - you must be a truster, a hoper and a lover. Do you know who you are? Yes, by now you know your name. Put little emphasis on that. The Bible says God gives new names in heaven; a name that describes your true character. Being called Prince John or Diggory Duff Ebenezer means little if you are poor in eternal distinctives.
Gender? So you perceive by your sex that you are like half of humanity and realize you'll never understand what's happening in the heads of the other half! Cheer up your sex is temporary. Jesus said there's no marriage in heaven. Don't spend much energy defining yourself by sexuality.
Wow, if my name and my gender don't matter beyond this world I have to question the pride I feel in being, American or Asian or African. That's right, ethnicity fades away too, as will class distinction, financial standing and status in business. Wine and gold are temporary.
The priority for eternal life is to know how to be in this world but not of this world. There is no point in a wall full of diplomas, a wad of bank notes, a body radiant with health, but a shriveled soul. Don't let fame or fashion squeeze you into a mold.
A New Testament verse says that in Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave or freeman. These gain correct perspective. They don't vanish. They are part of this world but your heart is no longer here. A genuine relationship with Jesus challenges our prejudice. Identity doesn't rest on gender, nationality or economic position. Just a minute preacher, that's how the world I've known since childhood is orientated. I won't know who I am if you subtract those things.
Yes, I understand the chasm you must leap to identify with Jesus. He insisted the only way to find real life was to lay down your rights and privileges. His road is narrow. We struggle. Our minds are bombarded with advertising and peer pressures to get back to the wine and gold. You need mind renewing. You need that often. Perhaps daily.
You can't develop into a Christian like a skill you hone. It's a new birth. It's a miracle you seek. Like the bride changes her name at the ceremony you need a change of identity. If that has happened you need to set your affections on eternal things. Does the desire to love when no love is returned thrill you? Have you begun hoping for a righteous world when evil is on the newscasts? These are the characteristics of a life building on what matters. When giving gets better than getting you are building eternal worth. When prayer is preferred to being praised you are headed aright. Build your life on the Eternal Rock. Make sure the foundation is Christ. Start right and construct what counts.