...I remember the thing I was most interested  in was railroad trains.  When I was eight or ten, my attention was captured when I discovered I could draw things like soldiers, horses, airplanes and boats on any pierce of scrap paper I had handy.  There was a time in my early 'teens, when the thing I loved to do most was sit on the front steps of our house and name the makes of cars as they drove past: Fords, Chevies, LaSalles, Packards, Buicks, Studebakers and Hudsons.  In my late teenage years I was most interested in things that were nautical like: sailboats, anchors, winches, marlinspike seamanship, cleats - and more.

 

As the years rolled by, a gradual change took place in my attitude toward the “things” in my life.  In fact, after spending many years being avidly interested in all kinds of “things,” now all of those once vitally important things seem to be pushed into the background of my life.  In place of the things I once cherished, I now find my attention focused on the special people in my life: family, teachers, shipmates, people I've met in business, my old high school and college teachers and pals, my church family - the list goes on and on.

 

In the Bible (1 Timothy 4:16) the Lord tells us: “Look well to yourself (to your own personality) and to your teaching; persevere in these things - hold to them; for, by so doing, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”

 

I think what the Lord is saying to us there, is that we should look within ourselves to find our truest interest.  In our hearts, we will find our innermost feelings and blessings because that's where Jesus lives as the guiding force of our lives.  Then our response to all of the blessings he gives us can be to allow those blessings to overflow to the people around us.

 

Therefore, as you can see, it is important to remember for rest of your life that life's best things - are not -things. 

 

Terry Weber