In light of eternity.

I think I mentioned before that “”I was indecisive?.............. I just finished painting the living room, dining room, kitchen, and foyer walls of my home. For the past five years I have been trying to decide what color to paint. Should I be daring and try a bold color scheme or should I play it safe with a muted one. What about an accent wall and if so, which wall would be best? My husband, John graciously put up with my indecision as I experimented with small swatches of various colors. At one point I had about 10 separate colors in many different sizes and shapes adorning the walls.

No color seemed to demand attention so, as Christmas approached this year, I decided to take the plunge and make a decision. I went to a paint store, picked up a color wheel and spun it around and chose two colors. After buying a gallon of each, I brought them home, put on paint clothes, grabbed a brush and roller and began. Soon the living room was done and I opened the second can of paint hoping that it would at least complement the first color. As I applied it to the living room walls, I began having a very hard time trying to decipher where I had already painted.……. The color that had taken countless hours over a period of five years to decide upon was almost the exact same color that had already been on the walls for the past twelve years!!!!!! …………………………..(Fortunately we still like the color.)

Groaning inside, I thought about what a tortuous affair picking out the color for the walls had been. I had asked the opinion of many friends and relatives and all of them had freely expressed their opinions. I had studied magazine color combinations and had tried to visualize the mood that I wanted to achieve. I did my homework. Unfortunately, as this decision overtook my thought life, I allowed it to steal a great deal of my time and energy. As I did so, it backfired on me!

At one point in my grueling endeavor, a friend of mine asked me what position the color of my walls had “in light of eternity.” I answered, “In light of eternity? Well, nothing of course!” Immediately the realization hit me that I had spent an incredible amount of my time on that which was ultimately unimportant and had spent very little time on that which had eternal value.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking care of the “things” that God gives us. We are to be good stewards of what we have been blessed with. It is necessary to apply new paint to walls from time to time but my problem began and ended with my focus. Choosing the color of paint in and of itself was not a problem but it became an idol when I allowed it to consume my thoughts. Only the Triune God…. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit….. deserves that place in my life.

"Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal; for I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:4

Have a good day! Love, Sue