Welcome to Day 26 of 31 Ways to Embrace Lopsided Living!

When we embrace relationships, enjoy community with others, it pleases God. And it enriches our lives now and for eternity. #LopsidedLiving Only five posts left in this series after today. I am praying you have been encouraged, inspired, challenged, and equipped by all the ground we’ve covered. I know it’s been a lot. Don’t forget every post is indexed and you can always come back and read them again.

So, yesterday we talked about how important it is for us to encourage others. Did you do it? How did it impact you? Funny, isn’t it, how when we set out to bless someone else we usually end up being blessed ourselves.

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

Today, though, I want to dig into something we touched on before — the value of relationships. People really are our priority. And we were made for connection with others. God designed us with a need for relationships, first with Him and then with others. We need to

ENJOY COMMUNITY.

I once heard a preacher tell this story:

Standing at heaven’s gates, St. Peter greeted a man who was carrying a huge and obviously heavy bag. St. Peter told the man he couldn’t bring anything into heaven, that everything he would ever need was already there and in abundance. The man argued that he needed to carry his bag in with him, that it contained something he could never part with.

After a few minutes of discussion back and forth, St. Peter finally asked the man to open the bag and show him what it contained. As the man showed Peter the contents, Peter’s face clearly revealed his confusion about the man’s choice.

Finally, after a few moments of deliberation, Peter looked at the man and said he could carry his load into heaven with him. The others standing nearby watching the whole scene marveled at Peter’s concession to the man. Peter looked at them, shrugged his shoulders and said, “He had a bag full of gold. I have no idea why anyone would want to bring asphalt into heaven.”

You may be chuckling, as I did, about the foolishness of the man. But the point of the story is an important one: the things we treasure most in this life are often the least important things in heaven. We worry about possessions, power, and position. But in heaven, none of those will matter.

When we embrace relationships, enjoy community with others, it pleases God. And it enriches our lives now and for eternity. #LopsidedLiving

Jesus urged His followers to have an eternal mindset with these words,

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21

People are the treasure of heaven! And when we invest in people here, we are building our treasures in heaven. That’s where our heart should be.

Today’s challenge is this