Consider the experiences of this family:

A number of years ago I spent a summer teaching in Mexico. Both of my children went with me. To pass the time as we drove, my 8-year-old son Larry watched for license plates. The trip to Mexico netted him plates from 24 states, and while we were there, he saw four more. So when we started back, he was over halfway to having “collected” all 50.

Our return trip was during the peak vacation season, and to top it off, we went through Yellowstone National Park – a license-plate collector's paradise. By the morning of the second day there, he had just one more state to go: Delaware. Larry became obsessed with finding a license plate from Delaware. When we stopped to see Yellowstone's magnificent sights, he didn't glance at them. He preferred to run up and down the parking lots looking at license plates. Talk about stress! Talk about anxiety! You would have thought that his whole life depended on finding a Delaware license plate!

When we stopped to eat in a cafeteria near Yellowstone Falls, my son begged me to let him look for license plates. “Please, I don't want to eat,” Larry said. “Can't I just stay here in the parking lot?” “No,” we told him, “you have to eat." So he went inside and ate as quickly as he could get the food down and then headed out to the parking lot. As we finished our meal, Larry came bounding across the parking lot. “Come here! You've got to see it! You won't believe it if you don't see it!” All of us went running out.  And there, just pulling out of a parking space, was a blue Volkswagen bus with Delaware license plates. In fact, we got a picture, and even today, a decade later, when we look at our Yellowstone pictures, that's the picture that tells more about what we did in Yellowstone than anything else. *

Is it possible that we get so focused on some things that we miss out on greater things?  Is it possible that we can get so busy looking for license plates that we miss out on some spectacular views in Yellowstone?

Here is the gravest concern: some are so focused on the things of this world that they miss God (the One who created the world!) and the greater blessings that He wants to share with us.  The greater blessings that God wants to share with us are eternal and spiritual in nature (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

The One who created the world is the One that we have offended through our sins, but God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we can be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16; Romans 6:23).

God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Looking for different license plates can be a fun way to pass the time on a road trip – especially with children.  But there’s so much more – and more important things – to observe, experience, and embrace.

At the end of the day, if you’ve missed Jesus, you’ve missed it all.

-- David A. Sargent