In one of her classes, my daughter, a psychology major, read about an experiment involving a child and marshmallows. She was eager to try this on her 5 year old brother. She placed 1 large marshmallow in front of him and told him that if he did not eat the marshmallow while she was out of the room, he would be given 2 more. Depending on his ability for cognitive reasoning, he would either eat the marshmallow wanting immediate gratification or wait for a short while anticipating the great reward.

Aren’t our lives like that? Can we postpone the immediate to anticipate the eternal? Will I choose daily to lay up my treasure in heaven instead of bowing to the clamor of the here and now? In Luke 10:40-41, Jesus told Martha, “You are worried and bothered about so many things but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Every day I want to choose the good part – the things that won’t be scattered like dandelion seeds in the wind, the things that I can anticipate as I spend eternity at the feet of Jesus.