As a nation, we have just completed a very complex and difficult year. Amid much turmoil, many changes have been faced collectively as well as individually. Looking ahead to 2021, what would you like to see happen? What would you like to accomplish? The key to true success is putting emphasis on what matters most. Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Life often poses difficulties, bringing anxieties coupled with justifiable concerns. This causes us to expend time and energy trying to solve our problems.

But what should our first response be? To pray and ask, “Lord, what would you have me do? How can I best handle this situation while pleasing you? How can I bring glory to your name? Help me cast my burdens upon you.”

Some issues may be resolved quickly and    others may never see an answer. Oftentimes the outcome is not what we predicted or deemed best. Just remember it is most important that God remains with us. When it is all said and done, we will be accountable for whether or not we served Him. It won’t matter  whether we experienced good or poor health, how much material gain we obtained, or who holds certain political offices.

So what are your priorities? Where is your focus? Paul gives sound advice in Colossians 3:2, “Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth.’’

Of course there is a certain care we must give: to make a living, secure a home and a future, and maintain good physical health. But even in all of this, our first priority must be given to spiritual man.

Daily taking time to pray and read God’s Word; making sure that we are living in a manner pleasing to Him. Attending church services to worship God and hear the preached word is also crucial. In the end, what we have accomplished for God is what really counts. Nothing else will matter. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

~ A Roxbury