Monday December 27, 2010
Theme: Driven
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Cannons - Phil Wickham, All Over the World - Matt Redman, Today is the Day - Lincoln Brewster, The Stand - Hillsong
Read: Hebrews 13:5; Philippians 3:7-8; Psalm 90:14
Think: This past Sunday, Pastor Paul talked about things that we often wrongly allow to drive our lives. Of the four drivers on his list (possessions, popularity, power, and position), the one that often rings true with me is possessions, especially this time of year.
I imagine all of us have experienced the post-holiday let down. As a kid, there was always the feeling of disappointment Christmas afternoon after all the presents had been opened and played with. The toys we had dreamed about all of December never seemed to satisfy as we expected they would.
This year, my incredible, awesome, most wonderful wife gave me a flat-screen TV for Christmas. For most men, audio/visual equipment ranks at the top of the Christmas wish list. For our family in particular, this is a huge improvement over the 12 year old TV we had been watching. I was ecstatic to receive this gift and am very much looking forward to watching Washington play Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl this week on the new TV. However, the thing I noticed after setting up the TV is that despite the significant improvement to my viewing experience, I’m not any happier now that I have a flat screen than I was last week with my 12 year old TV. Although I had wanted a flat screen for several years, it was a good reality check to realize that I don’t feel any more satisfied now than I was a week ago.
In Hebrews 13:5, the Bible says: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” It seems that God warns against loving “stuff” due to the fact that it can’t fill the longing in our soul. Our hearts were designed to be in relationship with God, drawing our worth and satisfaction from knowing Him. The apostle Paul states in Philippians: But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” Paul found the satisfaction and completion he was looking for in Christ alone, so much so, that he considered everything “rubbish” compared to the amazing experience of knowing Christ. If we look to possessions (many of which are blessings God has directly provided in our lives) for our worth, satisfaction, and completion, we always come away disappointed, as we are trying to fill a hole in our hearts with “stuff” that only God can fill supernaturally.
Do: Think about how you are feeling now that Christmas has passed. If you are experiencing feelings of disappointment or disillusionment, examine your heart to see what you are putting your hope in.
Pray: Jesus, as we head into this New Year, help me to put my hope and trust in you and help me to be driven by your purposes and plan for my life, not in the things of this world that ultimately leave me dissatisfied. I pray that I would experience you in a very real and satisfying way so that everything else would pale in comparison to knowing you.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.