Something to think about - and seriously

I am convinced that Americans (and likely most of the western world) are consumed by things that, to be blunt, don't matter at all. Think of the things that you obsess about the most - is it your status at work, your golf game, what is on TV tonight, plans for watching the Super Bowl? I don't think there is anything wrong with these things in and of themselves, but what lasting impact, and I mean eternal impact, do these things have on anyone? Does someone get to know Christ when you break 80 at the golf course? Is the next episode of Lost or American Idol going to draw your neighbor nearer to entrusting their life to the one who created them?

This obsession with the temporal is not a new phenomenon. This has been going on since the fall of Adam and Eve. Why do we tend to think that what humanity is currently going through is really any different that what we have experienced since the creation of the first people? I think Christians would be very wise to read and consider works of believers of centuries ago in order to see the human plight is in essence no different today than it ever has been. While Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyers, Max Lucado, and Tim LaHaye may consistently be on the bestsellers shelf at the local Christian bookstore (and Wal-Mart, as well), you may find words penned hundreds of years ago to be simultaneously refreshing and truly challenging.

A few weeks ago I began reading Blaise Pascal's Pensees. What an incredible thinker. A quote of his that is both eloquent and sobering describes the mental state of mankind:

"Man's sensitivity to trivia, and his insensitivity to matters of major importance, reveal he has a strange disorder."

What is the cure for this strange disorder? The answer is simple, but making it reality is a lifelong struggle - "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Romans 12:2. Lord, may I be transformed to better see the eternal and not be consumed with the temporal.

Undoubtedly, such a transformation will seem strange to almost everyone, including me. But, am I sensitive to the trivia of other's opinion, or sensitive to submitting and committing to Christ my thoughts, my efforts, and my ambitions?