Cell Phone vs. The Bible

Cell Phone vs. The Bible

I received an email the other day. I would like to share it with you:
 
Ever wander what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses and pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to our kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we travelled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
I'm not an extreme cell phone user, but my phone is with me almost all the time.
Maybe you're not a cell phone user, but there are all kinds of things, which can garner our attention and seem to become an "essential" part of our daily life. A seemingly endless list could be considered: your car, cell phone, computer, daily newspaper, television, friends, job, etc. None of these are inherently wrong, and all have their proper place and use in our lives. However, we need to make sure that we have our priorities set aright.
The Lord Jesus, in what is commonly referred to as the "Sermon on the Mount” revealed that our primary focus in life should not be on the basic essentials of life (food, drink, clothing, etc.), but that we should make sure that we have our priorities set aright.
 
...seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
If the Lord did not want our attention to be saturated in these rudimentary items, then certainly He does not want us to be wrapped up in the unessentials of life. We must look beyond the earthly to the eternal, beyond the fleshly to the spiritual.
The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy said: ...bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)
It is not that bodily exercise is wrong or has no value to it, but it fails in comparison to the spiritual exercise of godliness. This is the case with all things this world has to offer; they are comparatively unimportant. Temporal things only carry with them benefits for the life that now is - they are powerless to affect any good for the life that is to come. In fact, Solomon acknowledged that the goods of this life can bring eternal trouble, if misused.
 
"There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.” (Ecclesiastes 5:13)
Friend, let us realize what is important in life. The goods of this life can be destroyed and stolen, but the treasures of heaven endure into eternity Matthew 6:19-21 - "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:15 – "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
 
What is your most valuable possession? It's not the phone, car, house, computer, etc. All this stuff is unimportant in the eternal picture. And yet, at times, we treat them as though they were of great value. Your most valuable possession is your Bible! Let's treat it that way! Psalm 119:105 – "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:11 – "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.”
 
Jimmy
12/06/09  AM