What is the answer?

Nov. 14, 2006 - What is the answer?
I'm reading A Year with C.S. Lewis ... in reality I've spent about a month with him ... I've done some Ranomed Heart with John Eldridge ... some personal Bible study ... and some days I've been lazy/preoccupied/depressed/disobedient whatever and done nothing more than sit in on AJ's devotions.

Today's entry was compelling enough to ponder further.

The title of the entry is Of Heaven and Earth - from The Great Divorce, preface

" But what, you ask, of earth? Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place. I think Earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only are region in Hell: and Earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself."

We attend church with a man who's partner was shot and killed over the weekend. Jimmy had witnessed to this fella, tried to get him to attend church and know Jesus. Each time, the proposition was met with "I'm hearin' ya, but I'm just havin' too much fun! Church would change all that." Everyone who knew him said he was fun loving, giving and if anyone one deserved to go to Heaven, he did. I watched the heart of his friend break on Sunday morning as the reality sank in ... none of us earn our way to Heaven. In John 14:6 Jesus tells us that "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me." Being a good guy just wasn't enough. And by his own admission- Earth was first!

What a reminder- that we have a choice everyday of how we will set our priorities. Will it be more important to spend 15 minutes watching the news or 15 minutes reading the Bible? Will it be more important to listen to 15 minutes of music which glorifies nothing but earthly things or will we listen to 15 minutes of music which is God-honoring? Will the event (shopping/hunting/fishing/date) help in our(or someone else's) walk with Christ or will it hinder it? Will we watch a movie or tv show which promotes an agenda which we would never say we support, yet makes us laugh or will be be selective or even turn off the TV and engage our family in conversation? Phil 4:8 gives us a 'shopping guide' for our mind(all of Philippians really). Fix your mind on the honorable, the just, the pure, the lovely, the gracious, the excellent, the praiseworthy ... and if it isn't clearly one of those things I think it is worth asking the question - Does this ________ (song, movie, book, person, location, obligation, job, etc) place Heaven in first or second place? What priority is being demonstrated for others(my spouse, my child, my friends, my co-workers, etc) to see? I've heard the way to determine how you spend your money is to review your checkbook ... I believe I'll open my planner and double check my checklist and see whether my To Do list gives some indication as to where I've placed Heaven on my list. I suspect there will be some changes in how I spend time at the Brown homestead!