Somehow it just doesn't seem to matter.

     Maybe things don't seem to matter to you like they may have in the past.  Perhaps you too have let the priority of the first love for Jesus slip down on the ladder of what's important.  Maybe the cares of the world, 2.5 children, two pets and a house mortgage have captivated your time and effort.  Did you get to that place where somehow it just doesn't seem to matter anymore?  I've been there a few times.  Not that I wanted to go there...well sometimes I did.  It's when we find ourselves in this space of apathy and lack of vision that we need a vision all the more.  I took upon myself the task of building a big shop from free stuff from Craigslist and other sources.  The structure is standing waiting for me to install the trusses.  There is plenty to do and I work at it as time allows.  I was reminded why I'm building the shop by a question asked of me. "What do you envision doing in the shop when it's finished?"  I had to think a while because my main goal had been just finishing the shop.  Doing what I said I was going to do.  I hadn't thought past the last nail and screw.  I finally answered the question as I realized the next step was to enter that vision of tomorrow. 
     We decide to settle down, have a family, career and the family van.  We decide to attend a church on Sunday and Wednesdays and calling that good.  We enter into work looking at a retirement instead of looking for what God wants and desires.  All along we are slipping into the "somehow it just doesn't seem to matter" phase.  Maybe it's the status quo you have been chasing or trying to keep up with your neighbor?  I don't know what the situation is for you.  For me, trying to enter and exit the day doing what God wants me to do has been the greatest challenge.  Yes, I look for and long for that time when I step foot into heaven.  Yes, I long to be held by Jesus as he wipes away every tear and makes me whole again.  Yes, something does matter.  However, what matters here on earth cannot trump what matters in heaven.  People depend on you and I to be whom the Lord intended us to be.  We need the reminders of that in our work, play and family life.  We also need it in our life at church, baseball league, and our dance classes.  No, I don't take dance classes! 
     A preemptive strike is one in which we take the first action to prevent the action of others against ourselves.  It's been said that the best defense is a good offense and for good reason.  Rather than being actionaries, we have become a world of reactionaries.  We wait until the other guy or gal makes the first move and by then, it's to late.  We become victim to the "somehow it just doesn't seem to matter" syndrome.  Overwhelmed we quit.  Rather than choosing to stand for something we fall for anything.  The world just reinforces that element by every imaginable way.  Everything is becoming so regulated that people are stopping thinking for themselves.  We fail to stand when we should and become part of the mass that just exists.  I'm not for that and as a result I come up against opposition and sometimes persecution.  Taking up the Cross every day is the right choice.  Never mind the consequences of doing so.  Christ went to the cross just for this very moment in our lives.  Today is the beginning of another day.  Whether you or I choose to have a positive or negative attitude is totally up to us.  Remember, it's always your choice.