Valuing what's most important

By Robert Hurtgen

In 1845, a British arctic expedition under the leadership of Captain Sir John Franklin set sail seeking a passage around the Canadian arctic to the Pacific Ocean.

The manifest of the two ships included a 12-day supply of coal for the steam engines, a 1,200-volume library, a hand organ, a china place setting, cut-glass goblets and sterling-silver flatware. The two- to three-year expedition was woefully unprepared for the journey.

The ships became entrapped in the arctic ice. Sailors set out to search for help but soon succumbed to harsh winds and freezing temperatures. All 138 crew members died. When members of the deceased crew were discovered, some were found carrying the silver flatware. One frozen body of an officer found, miles from the vessel, was wearing his uniform of fine blue cloth edged with silk braid a blue greatcoat and a silk neckerchief. Noble attire, but wholly inadequate. In the end, what they valued was of no value.

The sad truth is we often do the same things when it comes to our eternal lives. In the Book of Matthew (Chapter 19), Jesus warns of the danger of spending every day valuing what looks precious, only to be eternally wrong.

A young man comes to Jesus wanting to know the one deed he needs to perform to guarantee eternal life. Jesus sees this man has two values. First, he values that he has kept all of the commands of God. Second, he values his possessions.

There are two things Jesus tells him. First, he is to keep the commandments. To which the man responds, "Which one? I have kept them all." He has done all the right things, in all the right ways, at all the right times. Or so he thought.

Jesus also tells him to sell all his possessions and follow him. To that instruction, the man with great sorrow abandoned the conversation. His many possessions were, in fact, possessing him.

Jesus points out this man's faith was based on how good he thought he was and the value of his life on what he possessed. In the end, he valued what had no eternal value. The Bible is clear: If we value only what is valuable this side of eternity, we will miss heaven. But, if in faith we aim toward heaven, we will gain both.