Mindful Monday Devotional -Don’t Neglect the Eternal!

Mindful Monday don't neglect the eternal

We’re all so busy with the rush of daily life.  Get the kids off to school, get the house clean, go to your meeting, doctor’s appointment, get home in time to take the husband’s suit to the dry cleaners but make sure to be home before the school bus does, to get the kids off the bus.  Get the kids happy and settled and start dinner.  Serve dinner, get everyone happy and collapse on the couch for an hour exhausted, get the kids to bed and go to bed yourself.  Rinse and repeat 🙂

Even those of us who are planners and bullet journalers. We make sure to get everyone’s appointments down on our calendar.  We write down the days we need to do certain chores to keep up on it all so it doesn’t build up and come crashing down around us (because most of us know that if we don’t do it, it won’t get done, right?)

But as today’s devotional reminds us:  Don’t neglect the eternal!

In all your planning, make sure you pencil in some time for the Lord. If you don’t put Him first, nothing else will fall into place in any kind of effective way.  If if falls together physically, often we are left empty and exhausted and our spiritual and mental health suffers as a result.

This week’s devotional I read on YouVersion comes from Marian Parsons, of the blog Miss Mustard Seed, so make sure to check her out there!

Created to be Creative

 

Don’t neglect the eternal.

I do have to acknowledge that there is a futility in homemaking.

You’ll fold laundry and more is right on its heels. You’ll make curtains only to have them go out of fashion in a few years. You will empty the dishwasher only to have it filled again. You will change a diaper only to…well, you know.

It can feel like the activities we’re doing are endless and ultimately pointless. It all will fade and wither and we can’t take it with us.

How’s that for a nice little nugget of encouragement? We’re entering Ecclesiastes territory here. You’re welcome.

But it is true. There does have to be a greater point. The stuff is all just stuff. The routine is just the routine. It sounds cliché, but without love, without Christ, it doesn’t really mean anything in light of eternity.

So, how can you paint a bedroom with love? What do household chores have to do with your walk with God?

I think it all boils down to the heart. Are we painting the room because we want to show it off on Instagram? Or are we painting the room to serve the family member who will be sleeping there? Do we become resentful of our family for making themselves at home, thereby creating more cleaning for us to do? Or are we humbling ourselves to serve them?

It’s the heart behind what we’re doing that makes it worthwhile. If we do all things out of love for God and others, we will do the right things. And the spiritual growth that comes from it, the fruit that can be seen by others is what is eternal.

It puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? It gives a depth and importance to everything, even the things that seem futile.

What is your motivation for working on your home? Is there pride, resentment, or any other sin that is being harbored?
Ask God to give you opportunities to use your home to serve and show His love to your family, friends, and even strangers.
Next time you’re doing a chore you really dislike, try praying through it. Thank God for clean water, machines that make our labor easier, a roof overhead, climate control, etc. Praying with a heart of thanksgiving and worship will most likely pull a selfish perspective to an eternal one.

 

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