"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that Day come upon you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. "Luke 21:34-36

This is a very strong warning given to us by our Lord, and one that's not to be taken lightly. I think about this passage in Luke when I am very busy. When I am busy I tend to get trapped in well I guess being busy! The devil uses the cares of this world to distract us from what is most important, and that is spiritual matters. The Lord thought it was important enough to say something about it, so we must take heed of His warning.

I don't know about you but if I am not resolute in putting God first no matter what then it becomes easier to move Him down a few rungs on the ladder. The cares and struggles of this life are weapons against us. Jesus also said in this passage let not your hearts be weighed down. This gives a clear indication of how much the things of this world can affect us. Our hearts are crucial in our relationship to God, and if we are weighed down with physical things then we have placed a rift between us and our Lord. The scriptures encourage us to love the Lord with all our hearts, but how can we do this if we are consumed by the things of this world? How can we do this if we are constantly dwelling on the past or drowning ourselves in self pity? How can we do this if we are trying to please God and mammon? The answer is we can't, and yes I know the cares and struggles of this life can be overwhelming, and this is why the devil uses them to our weakness. We must realize however that in the end, none of these things will matter.

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate Christ in their lives.

What will matter is not your competence but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you. Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters.