What is Essential to You

Some time ago I read the following; “when my husband and I were first married, we spent many hours together in the kitchen.  He was the cook, I was not.  One night I decided to prepare the meal.  His favorite was tuna casserole.  I chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, cooked the noodles, added peas and set it before him.  I anticipated rave reviews, but was surprised to find him silently staring at his plate.  Finally, he asked; ‘is this supposed to be tuna casserole?’  I almost choked!  What nerve!  Before I could say anything else, he said; ‘Where’s the tuna?’  He was right in my excitement; I had forgotten the essential.”

That story illustrates that what is essential must be first and foremost in each of our lives.  That is Jesus Christ.  Our lives tend to sometimes resemble that casserole dish that the wife lovingly prepared for her husband.  If Jesus Christ is not first in our lives – at the very top of the list of ingredients, we are missing the essential.

Luke shares a parable from Jesus about a rich man and the abundance of his harvest (Luke 12:13-21). He had so much that he decided to build bigger barns in which he would store up great riches for himself. “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’”

You may at one time have seen a baby bird in the nest.  The moment the mother lands, the baby bird drops his/her head back and opens their mouth.  God is saying to us, open your mouth wide, expand your faith, trust me in a big way and watch what I will do in your life.   

Many years ago, my wife and I attended a Great Commission Convocation in St. Louis.  One of the featured speakers was Dr. Theodore Radecki.  He made it a point to focus on the essentials in our lives.  Here are some examples that he gave:  How about a car?  Got to have one.  How about a home?  Got to have one.  How about a bank account?  Got to have one.  Food and clothing?  Got to have these items also.  He went on to say, “Someday, we will no longer need that car.  Someday we won’t be able to care for that home.  Bank account?  You’ll set down, make out a will, and decide how to rid yourself of all that money and assets. Clothes and food will no longer be a necessity when you are lying in a hospital bed.  That brings us back to the one essential in each of our lives, and that is Jesus Christ.

Going back to the above parable, don’t become like that rich man.  Our focus must never be on bigger and better things.  Rather we must be seeing out that essential ingredient that is “bigger and better”, that intimate and lasting relationship with God our Father made possible through Jesus Christ.  Jesus said; “I am the way, the truth, and the life”.  Those words, and the relationship we must have with Jesus is what is truly essential.  Stay connected to the church, and stay connected to His Word.