Dear Welsh Faith Family,

Is it just me or does it seem to you like time is continually speeding up? When I was younger, days seemed like they never ended. Weeks felt like months and months felt like years. At this point in my life, days feel way to short. Weeks fly by at mach one and months seem to disappear before I realize they were even here. Is it just me, or do you feel the same way?

I know you feel the same. Everyone I talk to expresses their surprise at how fast the days go by…how there are never enough hours in the day. And you know what I’ve come to realize? There are NOT enough hours in the day. We all have a limited amount of time to accomplish a limited number of goals. This realization necessitates that we carefully and intentionally prioritize our lives so that we accomplish the most important goals to make sure we don’t one day look back and realize we wasted our lives on things that do not really matter.

Let’s put things in perspective. Let’s say we will all live to the ripe old age of 100. In comparison to one million years, 100 years is only about as long as the blinking of an eye. When we look at how long 100 years is in relation to eternity, we begin to realize 100 years is really no time at all.

This begs the question: What goals are worthy of my time and resources while I am alive for such a short period of time? It seems that the goals that would have to take priority are the goals that will last for much longer than my short life on this earth. Don’t you think we should try our hardest to accomplish the most important and the most impacting goals possible in order to make our lives as meaningful as possible? If you call yourself a Christian (i.e. a Christ-follower), then you can’t ignore the fact that Jesus said our lives are to be about God’s glory, not about us. We were created to love God back in a way that makes Him as famous and well-known as possible. After all, it’s about God, not us.

When we begin to put things into perspective, it’s easy to see that most of us spend a great deal of time focusing on things that don’t mean very much in the long run. Does it really matter if we drive the biggest and best cars, when we could settle for less and give more money to those in need? Does it really matter if I please everyone around me when the only person I’m created to please is God? If we began to reassess everything we do and don’t do in this life according to Scripture and according to what God has called us to do in this short life, would we still put so much time and effort into the things that seem to take up all our time now? I don’t think we would.

Once we realize that the only things that really matter are the souls of those around us and God being glorified, it seems that our priorities shift to reflect this truth. What do you fill your days with during this short life you have on this earth? Are you allowing yourself to be consumed with things that really aren’t going to matter in the long run? Or are you constantly seeking to re-prioritize your life to make sure that everything you spend your life doing is going to have an eternal impact? This is what Jesus commands us to do. In Philippians 3:17-21, Paul says it better than I ever could:

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Don’t set your minds on earthly things for the short time we are here on this earth. It doesn’t matter the style of music we play. It doesn’t matter what color the walls are where we worship together. It doesn’t matter if the order of service isn’t exactly like I want it to be. It doesn’t matter who leads the singing or who gives the announcements. It doesn’t matter what stuff we use or don’t use for decorations.

There are only two things that really matter when it comes to our faith family: 1.) Are we doing everything we can to make much of God and to make Jesus’ name great in our community? 2.) Are we doing everything we can to take the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost in our community and around the world so that they can join us in worshipping the one, true God of the Bible?

Once John the Baptist realized the overwhelming task at hand, to glorify God and win the lost for Jesus’ sake, he put things into perspective for us. He says it plainly and concisely in John 3:30, “Jesus must increase, but I must decrease.” What would happen if we started to see things so clearly, if we realized we need to decrease in importance and Jesus needs to increase in importance in our lives?

I’ll tell you what would happen. We would quit bickering over things that don’t matter. We’d stop complaining about all the things that are exactly the way we’d like them to be. We’d re-prioritize and we’d start impacting the world by sharing the gospel of Jesus with the lost in our town and around the world. We’d start seeing lives changed through the power of the Spirit of God, by the grace of God, because of the Son of God. It would change our lives, our community, and our world, all for God’s glory. I pray this is what we become as a faith family here at Welsh. Let’s make this our utmost goal.

Your brother in Christ,
Thomas