How Do We Spend Our Time?

I have known people today who spend hours a day pouring over ancestry information to know the names of the people in their past that they have never met while neglecting relationships standing right in front of them.

We do not know much more than what the people in the ancestry book did for a living and where they were born or died. In most cases, they don't know what the heart of their ancestor was like but it seems satisfying enough for them to know their names and a few insignificant details about them.

I am convinced because of God's Word that we are to spend our time building living relationships. It is easy to become all warm and fuzzy over people we have never met and cannot ever know on this earth.

Perhaps the reason people love ancestry is that they are looking to find someone famous to be able to boast about their lineage. It's really amusing because everyone has someone famous in their genealogy, we have too, since there are so many people on the earth today all coming from the original couple, Adam and Eve.

I can prove through the Bible that I am related to every other human being on the earth. It would not be possible for me to be alive today unless the patriarchs of the Bible were not born first.

It might be fun to know some things about our ancestors from time to time, but placing so much effort into discovering it, to the point of neglected relationships of people still alive, seems strange to me. But that's just me, I see purpose in building relationships with people still living and those who love Christ.

There is a lot of fantasy thinking in this world today. People love to ponder in their minds what "could be" even more than they care about the facts. This is because our culture is more invested in "feelings" and "emotions" than they are in reality and relationships.

It is also the reason we have so many who are seeking alternative news sources that spew out lies, their sensationalism is far more titillating than the truth.

Spending our time pouring over ancestry information of dead people and the alternative news sources is safe, there is nothing invested in a living breathing person, no conflicts to resolve, no sacrifice given, and without any desire to engage in the hard work of caring about others.

We live in a culture that wants what it wants when it wants it, the needs of others seem unimportant unless they are glorifying self.

There is only one solution to this mess, which is to confess sinfulness and trust what Christ did for us on the cross. When we do this He changes our heart. All the things that seemed so important to us will fade as we seek Christ with all our hearts.