Focus on the Eternal

“The present form of this world is passing away.” 1 Corinthians 7:31

The Smartest Guys in the Room chronicles the fall of corporate giant Enron. In one revealing scene, the company’s CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, is contemplating resigning. The years of criminal misconduct, lying, and falsifying financial records have caught up with him and his company. Stock princes plummet. Disaster looms, and he knows it. Into his office walks Ken Lay, Enron’s chairman of the board. What pressing issue is on his mind? In his hands are fabric swatches for the company’s new $45 million corporate jet. Which does the CEO prefer?* 

There’s a lesson here: Don’t be consumed by the trivial when you are surrounded by issues of monumental consequence. As Christians, we must keep our focus on the eternal, upon what is supremely important. Our sinful and fallen world is passing away under God’s righteous judgment.  Too many go through life a heartbeat away from eternity without giving more than a fleeting thought, if that, to righteousness, judgment and the world to come.  Don’t let that be you.

Focus on the eternal.

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* Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, The Smartest Guys in the Room:  The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron (Portfolio: 2004), 338.