Poof! It's Gone.

At some point every person will make the statement, "Life is short." It is true that life is short. What we usually mean by the statement is not necessarily the number of years someone has, but the fragile and very temporary nature of life itself. Life can end quickly, without warning. Life should be considered precious.

The Bible says in James 4:14, "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."

Our lives are like a mist, a vapor. It is here for a moment, then gone. Just like the morning dew that lingers for a short time, but soon evaporates, our lives are here today and gone tomorrow.

The curious thing about all of this, is that while many of us agree with such statements, we do not live like it. We do not live like we believe life is short. We do not live like we think life is fragile and precious. Sadly, many people take this one life they have been given, and they waste it. 

How do you waste your life? You live it for yourself. You live it for your comforts, your wants, your dreams, your safety, your entertainment, your popularity, your riches, your power, and on it goes. This is the wasted life. 

The Bible calls us to live for something different. Something greater. The unwasted life is the life lived for God and His glory. The unwasted life is about submitting to the Kingdom of God, dying to yourself, taking up your cross and following Christ. The American dream says "Make a name for yourself," while the Kingdom of God says, "Die to yourself and live for one name - Jesus." 

There could not be two more contrary philosophies of life. Yet many churches and Christians have somehow convinced themselves that living and pursuing the American Dream is pursuing the Kingdom of God. Oh how deceived are we!

If you don't want to waste your life, seek first the kingdom of God. Give your time and talents and resources to God's mission. Redeem your time at work and home to advance the kingdom of God. There is nothing wrong with making and selling widgets, unless you only do it to make money to buy stuff. You are made for more than producing widgets for spending money. Approach your job as a mission field. See your co-workers as people made in the image of God in need of Christ. See your workplace as a ministry. 

There is nothing more terrifying or sad than someone who wastes their life. You only have one. One! You do not want to wake up one day as an old adult or reach your deathbed and realize you wasted it. You can't recover it at that point. You can't undo it. You have one life, then poof, it's gone. 

For more on this, check out this sermon: The Unwasted Life

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American Idols

In my reading time this morning I read a passage that I have read many times before, but a particular verse resonated with me and caused me to ask a tough question. The verse is from Acts 17:16 where Paul is in Athens and he is about to give his infamous address to the Areopagus. Scripture says:

"Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols."

When I read this I just paused and thought to myself, "does it bother me the way it bothered Paul that people in my city and culture are immersed in idol worship?" Sure we don't have as many physical idols (images and statues intended to serve as gods), but we have idols everywhere. For some, the big football stadium is an idol. It's where we go worship our heroes. For others, the big house is an idol. Still others are more subtle. There idol is how they look or status at work or a title. An idol is anything that we put before the One true God in our lives.

So back to my original question I asked of myself: does it bother you that idol worship is alive and well around you? My guess is that we have grown so use to it that we don't even recognize it or deem it as a big deal. For Paul, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw the city was full of idols. He understood what they were costing themselves. He understood how desperate they were to worship, but they worshipped things less than God.

Pray today and ask God to open your eyes to the idols around you, maybe even in your life. Pray that God would stir your heart to compassion and mission to those you see entrenched in idol worship. Ask God to reveal Himself and make Himself known to those who are worshipping things less than the Real Thing. Ask Him to break your heart for the same thing that broke Paul's.