Maintaining Focus: Live for what matters

Bryan Clark

“this is your life, and you only get one shot at it. You don't get to relive any days. So at some point, you have to say, this is my life, I own it.”

“He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning, even to the end.

There's a couple of things there that are really important. One is, what does he mean by eternity in our hearts? Basically what he's saying is this.

There's something deep within us that is dissatisfied with the emptiness of life. Something from deep in my soul cries out, there has to be something more than this. There has to be something different.

This can't be all there is. It's that emptiness that drives people to be more and more busy. The idea of eternity in our hearts is a reflection of what it means to be made in the image of God.

There's something deep within us that feels like I was made for something different, for something more. And the reason you feel that way is because you were. Genesis 1 and 2 paints this beautiful picture of what you were actually created for, to experience this deep, soul-satisfying relationship with God in a place God himself called paradise.

That's what you were actually made for. And that's what[…]”

“That which has been already, and that which will be, has already been. For God seeks what has passed by. Just want to highlight two points there.

One is he clearly says God considers each day a gift. The end of verse 15, God seeks what is passed by, basically means God is going to hold us accountable for the days we've been given, and what we did with those days. They may become monotonous to us.

They may just be one day after another. But to God, they're a gift. And he wants to know what did you do with the gift you were given?”

“Well, of course, the moment didn't last, and life goes on. A lot of years of Christmas shopping together, as a matter of fact, we never missed a single Christmas season until Ashley turned 25. She was part of the church planting team that was going to Spain with Ryan.

In December of that year, she wrote a blog entitled Things I Will Miss. Here's what she wrote. Every Christmas since I was, I think, four, my dad has taken me on a father daughter date to go shopping for my sisters and my mom.

Now that I'm an adult, it's become one of the holidays. It's become one part of the holiday season that I look forward to the most. Regardless of how much or little shopping I actually need to do, I love in all caps, the time with my dad.

Last night, we went shopping, so we drove home from Omaha with dinner leftovers and gifts in the back seat, listening to the Oak Ridge Boys' Christmas and watching the snow fall. I couldn't help but think how perfect the moment was, but it's only a moment. And as with most things lately, there is a sadness[…]”

“It's likely that will be the last time I go Christmas shopping with my dad. It was interesting she was having the same emotions that I had had 20 years before. Capturing the moment, because the moments don't last.

But what I've realized over the years, it's not so much that the moments just go away. They become part of the thread that makes up the tapestry of the story God is writing. Moments that matter, moments to treasure.

Woven in to the tapestry that become part of the story God is writing, that will ultimately matter.

Tomorrow Ashley turns 41. A few weeks ago, she texted me, hey dad, wanna go wander through some stores, do a little Christmas shopping, eat out together? I said, I'd love to.

Another moment to cherish. Another thread in the tapestry. Another part of the story that God is writing that will ultimately matter.

I promise you, every day in 2026, there will be moments if you choose to see them. Each day is a day you'll never get back, but each day has moments that you can treasure that you can ponder. They're the moments that give life meaning and purpose.

Moments[…]”