Don't Make Life About Stuff

What do you want to be remembered for? What type of legacy are you creating? You’re never too young to think about the mark that you’re making on the world around you. I look around and I see people working hard and darn near killing themselves to make it in their careers. They’re putting in long hours and sacrificing precious time with family, friends, and even the Lord, in order to rise to the top in their field of employment.

The Bible says a lot about the benefits of working hard versus being a sloth and laying around all day. But it also says a lot about dedicating your work to the Lord and being an example to your family. I wonder what it says to your family when you only see them in passing. When you really are just ships passing in the night. Things take a lot of money to acquire and even more to maintain. Where does it end up when you die?

My own father was one of the hardest working man that I ever knew. He accumulated a lot of stuff; unfortunately, he didn’t live long enough to enjoy most people of it. He had two cars, a boat, and a summer home in the mountains. Then, he dropped dead of a heart attack at the age of 50. I don’t remember anybody talking about the cars or the boat or the cabin that his funeral. I remember them talking about how kind he was and what a hard worker he was and what a gentle spirit he had. The sad thing is my mother and I didn’t get to see much of that kindness or the gentle spirit because he was hardly ever home.

I know he meant well and that he worked so hard because he wanted us to have the best of everything, things that he never had growing up. But I would’ve traded all those things just for an hour of his time. The sad thing is that I never got to because he was gone in the blink of an eye. I’m writing this to encourage all you workaholics not to make it about stuff. The people who love you just want you. The stuff is nice, I’m sure, but time with you is worth so much more. Time spent with loved ones is precious.