Misplaced Priorities

     What's important in your life?  Where do you have your priorities?  What things are important in your life and what things don't really matter too much at all?  I mentioned a few days ago about getting rid of things that we don't need within a year.  We may consider out hoarding of earthly treasures as "recycling" or giving our accumulated boxes of unused material some other fancy name.  I often have to defend my own collection of used faucet parts as being somewhat necessary for the preservation of life.  I think, though, that the issue comes down to priorities.  It is an issue in which I have been challenged in my own life and especially for the church in America whose abundance in technological advances, information and devices to instill comfort have lulled it into a sense of apathy as a result of misplaced priorities.  What is important?   Matthew 19:21-22 says,  "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."  
     In the account of the young rich man, we find an individual who had a lot of concern for his earthly possessions.  He asked the right question.  He was concerned about eternal life.  He wanted to have eternal life, but obviously, didn't like the answer that Jesus gave him.  What was more important to the rich young m his possessions?  In the end, of course as the narration goes on, the man walked away empty handed.  He refused to do what Christ told him to do.  He went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.  The priority had been placed on the possessions rather than the eternal life.  He didn't like the answer.  There are many affluent believers in the world today who have the same goals of the rich young man.  They want to have their cake and eat it too, as the saying goes.  They want to have their possessions and get eternal life in the end anyway.  Riches are not wrong, but they become more like idols in our lives.  Riches are also the things that we accumulate in our lives that also bring responsibility.  I probably will always be haunted by the fact that 96% of the church's money goes to minister to 4% of the people, i.e., the believers of the American church.  Money for missions is reduced to a ridiculous level.  One man quoted that we spend more on dog food than we do on missions.  The priority has shifted and the material things are more important in our lives than the spreading of the gospel.  It is sad that many will end up missing eternal life because of their own desire for material things in their lives.  Where are your priorities in life?  What is important to you?  Don't be like the rich young man who walked away sad.  Praise God today that He offers the best gift ever and that it is free to all who would receive it.