Session 9

What really matters?

From Jeremiah: A 33-Day Devotional

"The Lord of the Rings" trilogy has become one of the most loved fantasy stories of all time. Even if you've never seen a movie or read one of the books, you've probably heard of the series. There are a dozen reasons why Bilbo Baggins’ story is remarkable, but one of the main reasons is his lack of obviously remarkable qualities.

Bilbo is surrounded by strong characters — a dwarven king, a powerful wizard, graceful elves, evil goblins, and even a mighty dragon. Bilbo, however, has little to recommend him to the reader other than a functional moral compass and loyalty to his friends. Even the magic ring Bilbo found would have made him a villain if not for those qualities.

Jeremiah tells us that God looks at us in a way similar to how we look at Bilbo. God isn’t impressed by the things we believe make us important. He doesn’t care how much money we have, who we know, what our talents are, or how much other folks admire us. Our value in His story is based on how well we know and follow Him. We ‘make it’ when we understand that God is the author of all things, and we sink our time, energy and resources into knowing Him better and following His Son.

Reflect:

• What characteristics would an author emphasize if he or she were writing a novel about your life?
• What are the things you value most about yourself? How is that different from what Jeremiah said?
• How would your day-to-day actions be different if knowing God were your first priority?