With the super bowl tonight,  I felt it was only appropriate to tell a super bowl story this morning.

There was a man who went to the super bowl and was Surprised to see an empty seat at the super bowl stadium, a diehard fan remarked about it to a man sitting nearby. To which he responded “It was my wife’s,” and went on to explain, “But she died.” “Oh! I’m very sorry to hear that,” “Yet I’m really surprised that another relative, or friend, didn’t jump at the chance to take the seat reserved for her.” Said the diehard fan, “Beats me,” he said. “They all insisted on going to the funeral.”

Wow that is terrible, I’m hoping we can all agree that the man’s priorities were not where they should have been in that story. However, some may disagree with that sentiment, Priorities are all in the eye of the beholder. It reminds me of a story I read about Charles Francis Adams, son of President John Quincy Adams and grandson Brook of President John Adams. They both kept a diary. One day Charles entered in his diary: “Went fishing with my son today—a day wasted.”

His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: “Went fishing with my father—the most wonderful day of my life!” The father thought he was wasting time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time.

The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is to know one’s ultimate purpose in life and to judge accordingly. Some may say I wasted a day away at church, or reading the bible, or praying while others see it as an investment of what truly matters. The question is, what truly matters to you? If this is just another thing you have to do, a checklist, then yes I can say why you would think it was a waste. But if you believe your relationship with Jesus Christ is most important which is what most people who go to church say they believe, then your perspective may differ in seeing that this time is an investment to your ultimate goal.