live love.

so the ipod touch is now available.
it is pretty much one of the best things technology wise out there.
along with, well, everything they make..new imacs..new ipods..you name it i probably want one.
not only that but apple has been lowering prices on all their products lately.
and most if not all of you know how much this can excite me.

……

i just got done listening to a message by a man named john piper.
pretty popular preacher/writer right now.
maybe you have heard of him, maybe you have read his book or even have heard the message i just listened to.
i had only read a few excerpts of his stuff and never heard a message until about 30 min ago.
it was titled “don’t waste your life.”

……

we had this bible project.
it was to make a collage of images that represent todays culture and to label them as either tests or temptations.
test being of God.
temptations being of the devil and of our own lusts.
some things are both.
some are tests for one and temptations for another.

……

i hope to now make some sense of the 3 previous paragraphs.

three fairly different events or things or whatever you want to call them and for me they all have everything to do with each other.

my personal collage consisted heavily of apple products and “stuff.”
materialism.
one of my biggest struggles.
probably one of the biggest things that the culture of today is teaching.

stuff = happiness
money gets you stuff.
get more money, get more stuff.
therefore more money means more happy.

biggest lie out there.

now the message that john piper spoke was about just that.
not living for stuff.
for retirement.
for pleasure.
for yourself ultimately.
life is short.
we get one shot.
no do overs.
no re-dos.
no but…umm…but…
no here let me try again.
one shot.
one.
no more.

we so often say tomorrow i’m gonna do this, or this is my 2 yr. plan, or whatever.
and i have to admit i have recently with the thoughts of in a couple yrs. going to college getting a job etc. have begun to start making my own plans.
when we do that, we are basically slapping God in the face.
in the book of james it says not to boast of what we will do tomorrow, but rather to say if the Lord wills.
God is in control.
He gives.
he takes away.
as He sees fit He does.
period.
end of story.
God is in control.

our life is so short.
compared to a vapor.
gone in the blink of an eye.
am i gonna waste my one shot?
am i gonna spend my one shot at this thing called life slapping God in the face acting like i know better like tomorrow is some sort of guarantee?
am i gonna waste my one and only opportunity at life?

he talks of what a wasted life is.
one lived for self.
about self.
about stuff.

i don’t want to waste my life.
what now?
what is a life not wasted?
pretty simple answer actually.
a life lived with God as your number one treasure as he puts it.
when you are entirely consumed with living the way He was called you to live.
when your life makes God look big and awesome.
when your life reflects who God is and how worthy and awesome He is.
“to display the supreme value of Jesus”-john piper
when everything. everything.
absolutely everything is second to God.
when you gladly suffer for HIm.
when you are completely satisfied in HIm no matter what the situation because all you want is to know Him and be closer to Him.

personally.
i want to live a life consumed with God.
a life not wasted.
but i don’t know that i am.
as i was making my collage, i was reminded of the many many times i have been materialistic.
times i have put my imac, ipod, wanting new clothes, wanting to be a better basketball player before Christ.
i have wasted so much time of my life desiring “stuff.”
i spent close to 2 yrs of off and on wanting my imac so much, that it seemed to never leave my mind.
i spent more time thinking of ways to save more money than on my Savior.

a little while after listening to the message i went online and checked engadget as i often do.
first thing i see.
ipod touch now available.
my thought sequence at the time.
i want one so bad.
wow. that was a materialistic thought.
whoa i just listened to a message not more than 5 minutes ago on not wasting my life on things of this world.

i see this as a test that if i not careful i could allow to become a temptation.
if technology and stuff that although can be used for good becomes my focus and number one desire.

now do i still want one.
yeah.
do i want one as bad as before.
not really.
it just stuff.
stuff isn’t coming with me after i die.
Jesus is way more valuable than stuff.

sorry for my randomness.
could have been much better written and the thoughts could have been much better organized i’m sure.
sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors that may bother you
i know i’m leaving out so much.
i know i’m barely scratching the surface.
but i really needed to just write this as much as anything else.

thanks for your time, hopefully it wasn’t time wasted.
if so i apologize.

“this aint my american dream….maybe i’ve been caught singing red, white, blue, and green.”

below is the message.

[audio:dwyl.mp3]

if you want the file let me know and i’ll get that to you.
–
live love.

This entry was posted Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 9:10 pm and is filed under life, thoughts. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.