fighting for… an eternal attitude…

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2Corinthians 4:18 NIV

The verse came to mind in connection with a proper attitude… and I wonder if most of us have a right focus when it comes to seen vs unseen…

So often the spirits around us keep our attention on the temporal… not the eternal… in an effort to deter us from pouring resources into what’s really important…

The eternal can be hard to focus on… since it’s unseen by the naked eye… and there’s so much we see which seems to need our urgent attention…

The temporal is easily measured with numbers… and seen in physical progress…

Investments in the unseen happen invisibly… over time… slowly revealed in changing attitudes…

The eternal can only be seen with the eyes of our heart… thus Paul wrote to the church…

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people…

Ephesians 1:18 NIV

I had an experience last week… walking into the church building…

Crossing the parking lot… there were only two other cars… I knew who they belonged to… otherwise no one else was there…

They belonged to those who gather with me once a week to pray… intercede… for our pastor and his family…

Walking into the building… a thought came to mind… Is it really worth having the building open…? lights on…? air conditioner running…? for just two or three people meeting to pray…? 

The spirit came upon me with a sense of condemnation… I even thought for one brief moment… We could meet somewhere else…

But then I remembered… recalled what He said… “My house will be a house of prayer…”

Immediately… I began to rebuke the spirit wandering in that hall… invading my thoughts… His house is to be a house of prayer…! this is a perfectly legitimate use for these resources…

But why is it such a fight… to pursue what’s unseen… eternal… even in a church…?

Looking up the “house of prayer” Scripture for this writing… I see the whole of what He said…

“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'”

Luke 19:46 NIV (emphasis mine)

And after reading the verse in its entirety… I wonder how often we rob Him… by pouring His gifts out on what is seen… temporary… rather than investing in the unseen… eternal…

Those things like… discipleship… spiritual growth… grace… mercy… compassion… salvation… worship… prayer…

The gifts He gives… both material and spiritual… He gives for the building of His Kingdom… the unseen realm…

The treasures we are to store up… are unseen treasures in heaven… not excess margin in a bank account…

By the power of the Holy Spirit… He calls us to fix our eyes… our hearts… our attitudes… on what is unseen… eternal… people’s lives and souls…

What attitude do you have toward the unseen…? vs the seen…?

We are all easily deceived… when it comes to what’s most important… especially in a world that’s all about image… externals…

But the image we are to focus on… is the hope of His return… the hope of turning more toward Him… all things spiritual… NOT… material… physical… temporal…

I found myself unexpectedly… fighting for… an eternal attitude…

What about you…? do you even know it’s a battle to fight…?