Choosing the Important - Martin Wiles

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NLT

He examined piece after piece with his magnifying glass, and each time he shook his head.

My wife and I thought we had acquired treasure. Our neighbor had brought us a bunch of items from an employer who cleaned out some things from their house. Among them, was what appeared to be silver. Since we needed extra money, we called a local antique dealer who buys silver and asked if we could come down for an appraisal.

We loaded our silver in a large box and headed out for our appointed time. As he sat behind his jewelry case, I handed him piece by piece. He looked through his magnifying glass, making sure what we offered was actually silver.

“Silver-plated,” he said and handed one piece after another back to me. As the box emptied, our hopes did too. Out of all we had brought him, only a small fork and a small spoon were silver—not enough for him to make an offer.

What we thought held value didn’t. Instead, we sold it several pieces at a time to those who didn’t care whether or not it was real silver.

The same has been true in my life. Times arose when I thought certain things were important: Levi jeans, Converse tennis shoes. Whatever the name brand was all my friends wore. But since Mom and Dad couldn’t usually afford name brands, I learned brand names weren’t so important after all. I got along fine without them, and the experience taught me a little about priorities.

Micah condenses life’s most important things for us: do right, love mercy, and walk humbly before God. A mix that’s certain to make our lives easier and more peaceful—whether or not doing so follows the norm or what’s popular.

Doing the right thing is never wrong … although it may be inconvenient or misunderstood. Loving mercy and then showing mercy to others will never lead us in the wrong direction. And humility—recognizing I’m nothing without God but can do all things with Him—will give me a proper perspective on everything else in life.

Our silver disappointed us, but loving others, showing them mercy, and living humbly never will. Choose to choose the most important things in life, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Prayer: Father, give us the wisdom to choose the things that You value.

Tweetable: Are the things you choose important? 

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