What are the most important things for you to possess for the life you are living?  What is critically important for you to accomplish with your life?  If you could only possess two special character traits or personal attributes what would they be?

The old phrase, “Different strokes for different folks” still holds true to this very day.  My mother used to always say, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”…what is important for one person may well be meaningless to another.   I guess it all boils down to “whatever melts your butter” is what is most important to you.  Just remember that all of life’s thoughts, words, ideas, and actions carry with them like kind consequences.  What you do today will have an impact in your life and bear a personal consequence back to you at some time in the future.  Watch your thoughts, ideas, words, and actions.  Always be certain they are good and positive ones. 

Let’s take a closer look at and into what are the really true and important things in life for any one individual.  What about having good physical health?  What about having lots of good friends?  How many of you would say that having lots of financial resources was what counted the most?  Anyone vote for having a nice home, wardrobe, or family car?

Well, permit me to say to you that since we are dealing with the subject of humanity, there can only be one Best Source to which we may look to find the answers to what is really the most important thing(s) that we need to possess in order to have and live a most happy, peaceful, and productive life here on earth.  That specific Best Source just happens to be the One who created the Heavens and the Earth and Everything that lives upon and  in it.  Namely, it is Almighty Creator God.  Now please understand me.  I make no “bones” about it.  I did not evolve from some sort of other animal.  None of my ancestors swung through the trees by their tails and ate bananas.  We humans were divinely created by an Almighty God just as is truly stated in the Holy Bible in the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis.  Since God created us in His own image, He is without a doubt the Best Source from which we can gain knowledge about ourselves and God’s Plan and Purpose for our lives.

The Bible tells us that we were fearfully and wonderfully made within the womb of our own mother.  It tells us that God knew the precise number of hairs on our heads, and furthermore He knew the exact number of days each of us would live on this earth…before we were born!  Now think about what I just said for a moment.  God knew us before we were born.  He made us just the way He wanted us to be.  And, He has predestined us to live a certain manner and way so as to accomplish His predetermined plan which He established for our lives,…all for His own Praise and Glory.

That means that IF we are wise enough to understand what God has done for us, we would be very wise to learn all about who God is and then discover what His Will or His Plan is for our lives while we are still living on this earth.

God reveals Himself to man here on earth in many varied and wondrous ways.  Look up into the heavens tonight, and see the Creator of the Universe on full display.  Observe the live birth of a baby.  Watch the seasons of the year change in a regular cyclical manner and basis.  Observe a sunrise or sunset.  Notice the growth and maturation process occurring on a daily basis in your own children’s lives.  Listen to beautiful music and observe its tone, melody, cadence, flow, and blessed emotional effect on your life.  Make no mistake about it…we are not here on earth by accident.

God created man as a needy person,…needy of interpersonal relationships.  In other words, man was designed to do his best with and around other people.  He actually said in Scripture that, “It is not good for man to be alone.”  That very statement should tell you all you need to know about choosing to be a “lone wolf” of sorts and spend most of your life all by yourself.  Don’t do that!

With all of that being said, permit me to share with you precisely what God has to say about what is the most critically important way for you to live out your life.  It well may surprise you.  It is my hope that what I am about to tell you will cause you to think and then make some seriously needed changes and adjustments in your life which will enable you to be obedient to what God has to say.  God always rewards obedience to His teachings.

Permit me to set the scene for you.  Jesus is surrounded and confronted by the Jewish religious leaders who are questioning Him about what the greatest of God’s Commandments are as given to the whole world through the Ten Commandments which were God-carved in stone tablets while the Israelites were wandering out in the dessert wilderness.  It is recorded within the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 5.

Let’s get back to the religious leaders confrontation with Jesus.  It is recorded in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 22, verses 34–40  NLT:

(34)    “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again.

(35)     One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question:  

(36)    ‘Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?’

(37)     Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

(38)     This is the first and the greatest commandment.  

(39)     A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

(40)     The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Isn’t it amazing to you how simple, straight-forward, and to-the-point all of God’s instructions are to us?  He is never in doubt, never unclear, and never violates or contradicts himself.  If you want to be happy, confident, certain of your life and its future, then simply obey His instructions.

So now back to the original question,….What are then the two greatest personal attributes or character traits an individual should have and always demonstrate through their thoughts, words, and efforts:

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.

2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

It is the wise man or woman who knows and understands these things we are discussing and who lives them out everyday of their lives.  It is this sort of person who will enjoy his earthly life the most and who will receive the greatest eternal inheritance once he or she dies and passes on into eternity.

Value your time on this earth.  Always be about doing the Lord’s work.  Never throw away precious hours or days.  You will never get wasted time back to relive.

In short, life is too valuable to waste.  So never waste a single day.

Stay focused on living life to its fullest and loving and serving your God by loving and serving your fellow man.

Peace and Love to All of You…………..Poppa Bear