I was buying milk the other day, standing in front of the shelf, shuffling through cartons, comparing expiration dates. It’s an annoying habit, but I like to find the one with the longest “shelf life” so even if I can sneak an extra day or two, I feel like I’ve won something. After all, there’s nothing more frustrating than having just enough milk for one more bowl of Cheerios only to discover that yesterday was expiration day. And I’m not about gamble with milk that’s a day over the limit. No how, no way.

As an aside, turns out expired milk won’t kill you. http://tinyurl.com/lqxl33

Milk Carton Royalty Free Stock Vector Art Illustration

Which leads me to the question at hand. Why do we spend so much time with decisions about things that will expire while giving so little thought to things that are eternal?

We get swept away by things whose impact won’t even last until tomorrow while not giving nearly enough weight to actions and decisions that can impact a lifetime if not longer.

Because the things of this world are fleeting. His kingdom is forever.

22:17 – Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away, O you mighty man. He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die and there your splendid chariots will remain, you disgrace to your master’s house! I will depose you from your office, and you will be ousted from your position.

26:12 – Lord you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. O Lord, our God, other lords beside you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor. They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them.

31:1 – Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do lot look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.

32:5-6 – No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. For the fool speaks folly, his mind busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the Lord; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.

Common thread in these verses? Power, pleasure, pain it’s all short-lived. It all has an expiration date. It all is fleeting.

Today was probably the worst day I’ve had at the office in quite a while. And I really let it get to me. I was so stressed out on the way home that my face was starting to twitch. It didn’t help that I was skating on sheets of ice trying to get to my front door. The trivial pursuits of this world, the things that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, are the very issues we spend mountains of time contemplating and worrying about. My job is stressful only because I place too much emphasis on it, append too much importance to it. When we get bent out of shape with things happening around us in the world, decisions by those in authority or short-term success gained from people who have impure motives and questionable actions, we are placing too much emphasis on the here and now, appending too much importance to it.

This loss of perspective also impacts our actions. The world can make an enticing and compelling affront. In chapter 36, the field commander for the King of Assyria attempted to cast doubt within the people of Jerusalem, to mock them, to create questions about the validity of their beliefs. Every day, the world can make you question what’s really success, what’s really peace and satisfaction. We are wired for immediate gratification. We trend toward short-term rewards. Most of us can spend money much more effectively than we we can save. It’s easy to get caught up in worldly pursuits, building a kingdom on earth and not in Heaven. To lose perspective on forever in moments that are fleeting.

I encourage you to join me in taking a  minute to think about how many truly meaningless decisions you’ve agonized over in the past week and how many actions were influenced by a short-term return on your investment. I know I’m not the only one who shuffles cartons, obsessing about expiration dates.