While I was working on my Bible study this week, a question that I was answering made me think of the following verse:

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Dwelling on the temporal/temporary versus the eternal. How much of our time and days are spent revolving around the things that seem really important to us right now, but are temporary? As women: our hair, skin, nails, weight, and outward appearance. As adults: our house, car, job, etc. As parents: our kid’s sports, friends, and education. As crunchy moms: essential oils, supplements, red light therapy, etc. While none of these are necessarily wrong, or bad, are they eternal?

We can get consumed with these things…because we see them with our eyes! I have noticed this even with being in my 40s, I am not bothered by things I can’t see regularly. (like those random eyebrow hairs that I can only see in the car mirror…if I can’t see them I don’t even think about them) What we see for a moment can quickly be where we fixate our gaze.

We spend our days and a lot of money, energy, and time on what we can see physically. But do we invest in the eternal? Do we invest in the character of our children, versus their activities? The character that is built in them will potentially last for eternity and have multi-generational impact. How much time do we spend honing eternal qualities like a gentle and quiet spirit (I Peter 3:4)? How much time does it take to grow in the fruits of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)?

I am not saying to focus on these as a task. More of a mindset and heart posture focus on what is important forever, versus what might seem important right now.

I recently heard a pastor say that everything that we see right now is temporal. Think about that…our bodies, our environment, our degrees, our jobs, etc. If we can see it right now, it means it will not be here in the future. Our souls however will live on for eternity…either in Heaven or hell.

This is convicting for a goal-oriented, list-making, high-energy, point-tracking person that I am. It prompts me to fix my eyes on Jesus…the author & the perfector of my faith (Hebrews 12:2)…truly the epitome of the eternal!