What Matters Most

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you have been able to enjoy the celebration of Christ's resurrection with your eyes fixed on the true meaning and its significance.

I woke up this morning at 8:55am. Considering I had to be at church at 8:45am, this was a problem. I had set my alarm last night, I just forgot to turn it on. So I was 50 minutes late to kids church. Pastor Phil was running kids church in the format of an archeological expedition to find the mystery of where Jesus is. It was very well done and the kids did a good job of participating. Unfortunately, I got there with only time to man my station for the last of the four groups of kids. Considering this week I was actually prepared, I was quite disappointed with myself.

How can I forget to turn my alarm on? And how can I forget to close our garage door like I did when I got home and it sat open for five hours? It all comes down to the things I take seriously. I suffer from chronic tunnel vision, and its something no pair of glasses can fix.

How can I remedy this situation? Well, it starts by caring about the details of what matters. This is a conscious decision that needs to be made, and a mindset that requires discipline. It doesn't mean I shouldn't care about the things that matter to me; it means I need to make these more important things matter to me too, and to make them matter more.

This is a lot like Easter (and most other holidays). We get so caught up in the holiday feeling and the family and church events that it's easy to forget the reason behind it. Easter isn't about sitting in a pew at church and singing a few songs. It's about celebrating the fact that Jesus rose from the grave. It was the most important thing to ever happen to the universe since its inception, and the most important thing to happen to my life. Yet, it's something that just becomes something we think about during the songs and sermon at church. It should be something that we fix our eyes on regularly, so much so that it becomes the thing that defines what we are.

So let's work together to put what matters most first. Whether it's consciously recognizing the importance of the fact that Christ is risen, or remembering to turn your alarm on before going to bed, let's be defined as people who put the most important things in life first. Everything else will simply fall into place.