Have the Best Things in Life

As I help people choose glasses frames, I often tell people that it is a gift to be able to automatically go for the most expensive frame on the board right off.  You can just see the quality in the material and feel it in the hinges.   You put the frame on and it just feels solid.  Most things that are made well just feel like they have been made well.  A Mercedes feels different than a Kia.  It's nice to have nice things.  Nice things are nice.  I even have a few nice things.  In the end though, it's just stuff.  Really.  It's just stuff, things, bling,  What is really important in this world?  Stuff?  I'm going to go out on a limb and say no.  

People are important.  We have people in our lives that have more influence than others.  Are they more important?  I don't believe so.  People are all precious.  I work with the public and sometimes it's difficult to look at someone as "precious" when they are yelling at you for something (that they ultimately did).  Fortunately for us, that's not how God sees us.  God loves us no matter what.  He loves us so much, even though we in no way deserve it.  He doesn't love clean people more than He loves dirty people.  He doesn't love rich people more than He loves poor people.  He loves us all.  In 1 John 4, the Bible tells us that "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." I'm sure I don't want to send my son to die for people that don't love me back, and in fact hate me and treat each other terribly just to spite me.  But that's what God did for us...for me.  It's very personal, this faith thing, but it's for each of us.  

John goes on to say in this letter "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." He doesn't say love just not smelly, pretty people.  He doesn't say just love rich, nice people.  He doesn't even say just love people that treat you well.  No where in there does he say to love stuff over people.  It's simple.  "Love one another." That's it.  Love one another.

I hope this post has been encouraging to you today.  It's been encouraging to me to write it.  I'd love to hear your comments below.