Do you know what is really
important in your life? Here is somebody who might have found out the hard way.
It happened on the evening of April 14, 1912. The
Titanic, the largest ship afloat, struck an iceberg in the treacherous waters of
the Atlantic. Four hours later she sank to the bottom.
A place on one lifeboat was reserved for a certain
woman. She was just stepping into the boat when she asked if she could run to
the ship’s library to get something. She was allowed three minutes.
The woman ran through the corridors of the reeling
vessel. Crossing the saloon she caught sight of jewelry strewn around the floor.
Passengers had hurriedly cleaned out their safes and dropped valuables as they
ran. What an opportunity. Wealth literally at her fingertips!
But she ignored the jewelry, made her way to the
library, snatched a copy of the Bible and ran back to the waiting lifeboat.
Earlier that day it may have seemed incredible to the
woman to choose a copy of the Bible over valuable jewelry. But in the face of
death, prized valuables became relatively unimportant, and what may have seemed
unimportant became suddenly valuable.
Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a catastrophe to
shuffle our priorities into a sensible order. But what a catastrophe when we
never do discover what is truly important.
Lee L. Jampolsky said, “At least three times every day
take a moment and ask yourself what is really important. Have the wisdom and the
courage to build your life around your answer.”
What if you were to take Jampolsky’s advice seriously?
What if you regularly asked yourself what, in that moment, was really important,
then built your life around your answer? How different would your life be?
Steve Goodier
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.