“Transiency is stamped on all our possessions, occupations, and delights. We have to hunger for eternity in our souls, the thought of eternity in our hearts, the destination for eternity written in our inmost being, and the need to ally ourselves with eternity proclaimed by the most short-lived trifles of time. Either these things will be the blessing or curse of our lives. Which do you mean that they shall be for you?”
Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) Scottish minister in Forty Thousand Quotations, Prose and Poetical, compiled by Charles Noel Douglas (London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1917) 560.
When we treat “possessions, occupations, and delights” as what they are, temporary, transient, and earthly, they are put in their rightful place as a “blessing” both to us and others. Alternatively, when they captivate our hearts, dominate our time, and define our identity, they become a “curse” to us. There’s no middle ground. There’s only a decision for each of us to make. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2