Seeing March on the calendar reminds me that spring is on the way. Spring draws my attention to Easter and Easter brings the gospel into the forefront of my mind. Truthfully, I should live very day in light of Christ’s call and sacrifice, but I don’t. I am journeying through the gospels with a friend of mine and in some ways it feels like I am hearing Jesus’s words for the very first time. It is both convicting and refreshing. Luke chapter 12 has had a particularly lasting effect on me.

In this passage Jesus relates the parable of the wealthy man who had such abundance he decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. God curses him for being so confident in himself and his wealth and the man died that very night. Jesus goes on to urge His followers to not worry about such things as food and clothing for those things do not have eternal value; instead, we should center our lives on what has eternal consequences. I don’t believe Jesus is saying that it is wrong to enjoy good food, tasteful clothing, a cozy house, fun vacations or any of those things that delight us throughout the day; He is saying that they should not consume our thoughts more than He does. And that convicted me.

As I read I realized that my thoughts are generally about temporal concerns like meal preparations, clothing purchases, finances, how much time I’ve spent on my phone, or whether or not I’ve offended a friend. Again, these things aren’t inherently bad, but when I’m dwelling on them I’m not seeking the Kingdom. And if I’m pursuing Kingdom matters earthly things suddenly won’t matter so much. What does this look like in practical terms?

This is a question I’ll be pondering all month and perhaps even longer. I know that I want to talk to and about Jesus more every day; I want to obey His promptings immediately; when I begin to worry about something material I want to ask myself if it will matter when I’m seeing Jesus face-to-face. I would like to be more interested in what God is doing in the lives of others and their efforts to share the gospel with those around them.

This month’s posts will be focused on gospel-living. How do you seek to bring the gospel into your every day living? What temporal concerns tend to dominate your thoughts?