http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Phil%203:13-14&version=NIV1984
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%206:33&version=NIV1984
I’m not sure where he picked it up but somewhere along the line our 5-year-old grandson Brett came up with the word ‘options’. If dessert is available he wants to know what his options are. The same is true when he is being punished. And other aspects of his life. It seems that at an early age Brett has learned that there are many choices in life
The reality is that there are many options of how we can live our lives. We all have a number of interests. Some people like work. Some like school. Some like gardening. Others like watching TV. Some like listening to music. Some like shopping. The number of things that are of interest that we can pursue are literally endless. We enjoy these activities. We spend countless hours pursuing them. And money. When we aren’t engaged in them we are thinking about them. And planning how we are going to pursue them when we have the time. Why is this? Because we like them. They challenge us. They energize us. They relax us. They bring us satisfaction. Fulfillment. A sense of accomplishment. If they didn’t, chances are that we wouldn’t engage in these interests. It’s that simple.
The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus is supposed to be the center of our lives. The reason why we live. We are saved by Him. We worship Him. We serve Him. We are supposed to find our joy and satisfaction in Him. I use the word ‘supposed’ because we all know that this is not always reality. Going back to our interests, oftentimes they are like a magnet. Everyday we are tempted to leave Jesus and go to them for purpose. Meaning. Excitement. Fulfillment. It is a constant battle. There are times when it seems as if our lives are ‘anything but Jesus’! As if He is the most boring, uninteresting way that we can spend our time.
Before we quickly dismiss this as not applying to us, think about it. Does the prospect of going to church, or praying, or reading our Bible, or spending time with Jesus, excite us? Is it something that we think about? Anticipate? Can’t wait to do? And when we do get the opportunity to spend time with Jesus, does the time seem to fly by? Or drag? Are we excited? Or bored to tears? These are challenging questions to answer.
Now there is nothing wrong with having interests and hobbies. God has made life interesting with a wide variety of things that we can pursue. It’s a part of His creative genius. And His love for us. These interests have been provided for us for our enjoyment. Our pleasure. The problem comes when our interests take precedence over Him. When they become an ‘idol’. Something that is given excess time, money and devotion.
As I think about it, I fight this ‘anything but Jesus’ issue all the time. I am tempted to get all excited about my favorite sports team (depending upon the current season). I want to watch them play on TV and read articles about them. I might even keep track of their progress. And anticipate the playoffs. Or I might want to read a couple of books that interest me. It is with joy that I find myself a cozy chair and commence reading. Or I might spend an entire day thinking about my softball game that evening. Or go to bed at night replaying the game. Again, these is nothing wrong with hobbies and interests, whether it be fishing, shopping, playing video games, etc. The problem becomes when we derive our joy, satisfaction and meaning from them. The reality is that any or all of these things could be suddenly taken away from us. Then what would we have left? Our relationship with Jesus. Knowing this, doesn’t it make sense that we ought to make sure that Jesus is our priority? Our life?
So as we pursue the various interests in our lives, we should give them some thought. Do our lives reflect a ‘anything but Jesus’ attitude? Or do they say, ‘Jesus first, then everything else’? The choice is up to us. Choose Jesus!
Lord, I thank you that You died for me. Because You love me. You want to be my life. My all in all. Unfortunately I find that many times I give more time, energy and interest to other pursuits. Help me to put my life in order. To put You first. To love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. And everything else second. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The reality is that there are many options of how we can live our lives. We all have a number of interests. Some people like work. Some like school. Some like gardening. Others like watching TV. Some like listening to music. Some like shopping. The number of things that are of interest that we can pursue are literally endless. We enjoy these activities. We spend countless hours pursuing them. And money. When we aren’t engaged in them we are thinking about them. And planning how we are going to pursue them when we have the time. Why is this? Because we like them. They challenge us. They energize us. They relax us. They bring us satisfaction. Fulfillment. A sense of accomplishment. If they didn’t, chances are that we wouldn’t engage in these interests. It’s that simple.The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus is supposed to be the center of our lives. The reason why we live. We are saved by Him. We worship Him. We serve Him. We are supposed to find our joy and satisfaction in Him. I use the word ‘supposed’ because we all know that this is not always reality. Going back to our interests, oftentimes they are like a magnet. Everyday we are tempted to leave Jesus and go to them for purpose. Meaning. Excitement. Fulfillment. It is a constant battle. There are times when it seems as if our lives are ‘anything but Jesus’! As if He is the most boring, uninteresting way that we can spend our time.
Before we quickly dismiss this as not applying to us, think about it. Does the prospect of going to church, or praying, or reading our Bible, or spending time with Jesus, excite us? Is it something that we think about? Anticipate? Can’t wait to do? And when we do get the opportunity to spend time with Jesus, does the time seem to fly by? Or drag? Are we excited? Or bored to tears? These are challenging questions to answer.Now there is nothing wrong with having interests and hobbies. God has made life interesting with a wide variety of things that we can pursue. It’s a part of His creative genius. And His love for us. These interests have been provided for us for our enjoyment. Our pleasure. The problem comes when our interests take precedence over Him. When they become an ‘idol’. Something that is given excess time, money and devotion.
As I think about it, I fight this ‘anything but Jesus’ issue all the time. I am tempted to get all excited about my favorite sports team (depending upon the current season). I want to watch them play on TV and read articles about them. I might even keep track of their progress. And anticipate the playoffs. Or I might want to read a couple of books that interest me. It is with joy that I find myself a cozy chair and commence reading. Or I might spend an entire day thinking about my softball game that evening. Or go to bed at night replaying the game. Again, these is nothing wrong with hobbies and interests, whether it be fishing, shopping, playing video games, etc. The problem becomes when we derive our joy, satisfaction and meaning from them. The reality is that any or all of these things could be suddenly taken away from us. Then what would we have left? Our relationship with Jesus. Knowing this, doesn’t it make sense that we ought to make sure that Jesus is our priority? Our life?
So as we pursue the various interests in our lives, we should give them some thought. Do our lives reflect a ‘anything but Jesus’ attitude? Or do they say, ‘Jesus first, then everything else’? The choice is up to us. Choose Jesus!
Lord, I thank you that You died for me. Because You love me. You want to be my life. My all in all. Unfortunately I find that many times I give more time, energy and interest to other pursuits. Help me to put my life in order. To put You first. To love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. And everything else second. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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