Eternal Significance

I must take a break from Acts to write about something that has been on my mind in one form or another for several years now. A crisis of sorts—not significant, thankfully—has brought me to this point. But more about that in a moment.

For several years I have been praying off and on for God to enable me to care about the things that really matter and not to care about the things that don’t matter. I have asked Him to give me an eternal perspective and to help focus my attention on things of eternal significance.

Following are some verses I have memorized to help me become eternally minded.

Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:2-3

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lost heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21

Despite the fact that I have been praying about it and thinking about it for some time, I still struggle desperately in this area. I am far too easily entangled in and encumbered by the things of this world. I especially struggle with (1) being controlled by my circumstances and (2) by materialism. I also have a strong tendency to obsess over a particular interest until I wear myself out over it. Hence, the crisis that has prompted this post: THE KNITTING OBSESSION HAS GOTTEN OUT OF HAND AND SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.

I don’t want to stop knitting, but knitting and related activities (such as reading knitting blogs and magazines and looking at patterns) are taking up way too much of my time and mental energy. This evening, I ripped out a project because it wasn’t PERFECT. This is the type of crisis that usually gets my attention and enables me to adjust my perspective.

A few months ago, God revealed to me the obsessive nature of my interests, and I shared this realization with my small group. I told them that now that I understood this about myself, I wanted the Word to be what I obsessed over, not other temporal things. Once again, I have gotten off track. It reminds me of one of the verses from Come Thou Fount:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let they goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart. O take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.

If the Spirit brings it to mind, please pray for me in my efforts to “set my mind on things above” and to “lay up for myself treasure in heaven.” I would be glad to pray the same for you.