“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2
The disciples and Jesus were walking in Jerusalem one day and they noticed the temple buildings. They had noticed how large they were and how great they looked and they pointed this out to Jesus. Jesus points out that everything that they see will be destroyed.
Seeing great works of art is something that can be exciting for some people. For most people they see the great works of art in paintings and sculptures, while others see it in the architecture of a building. It can be a beautiful looking castle, an unusually made building, a mansion, an office building, an sky-scraper, or some other unique building.
There are churches that are built that look extremely exquisite. Great care is taken in designing the building just right with stained glass windows, or the right type of seating, or the right type of designs on the walls.
While none of this is necessarily bad, none of it will last forever. Yes, the building may last a few hundred or even a thousand years, but eventually it will fall down. Every one of these types of buildings require constant maintenance to keep them up, but they will still fall some day. Some will start to crumble over time, little by little. While others may fall in a day, as the Twin Towers did in New York City.
Jesus turned the attention away from what is temporary to what is eternal. Yes, the buildings were magnificent, but they were also temporary. The souls of men and women are the only things that are eternal on this earth.
Getting caught up in the beauty of the things that are man-made will cause you to turn your attention away from what is eternal and made by God. It can cause you to turn your talk away from sharing the gospel, to talking about what is temporary.
Discussing the beautiful things on this earth is acceptable for a short moment, but it should not be your focus. You do not know when Jesus will return, it could be today. If it was today, would you be able to look back on your last days and say you did all you could to save as many as you could?
Where is your focus today?
I pray today that God will help you not get distracted by the things of this earth; that you will focus on the souls of men; that you will share the message of Jesus; and that you will know the return of Jesus is coming soon.
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