I first want to say thanks for clicking over to read this. I know there are many other things you could have clicked over to, and I know that as you are reading this you are hearing the relentless "pop!" noise of friends wanting to instant chat. Heck,I seriously thought of putting this off to watch the latest episode of The Office on Hulu...not joking, but this was something that has been brewing up in me for a while so I decided to share it with you. If you were expecting to get a lot of laughs from these "Fun Thoughts" then I am sorry to tell you that you will be disappointed...unless you have a particularly and maybe strange since of righteous humor, hehe.
My thoughts today are about fun indeed and the reason why I have had such trouble finding reasons to have it lately...basically it seems that fun has been kinda getting in the way of things, which is weird :). I remember when I first started reading the Bible and particularly the Gospels I would imagine what it would be like for the 12 disciples to travel along with Jesus through deserts and wildernesses, mountain tops and valleys and what they would just talk about. I mean I know that Jesus would seamlessly and masterfully blurt out parables and stuff but I wondered what fun they had, like if they would just tell jokes or would Jesus play pranks on them or would they play pranks on Him. And if these things did happen then why didn't the disciples see it particularly important to write about it years later for our benefit? The only account of fun or entertainment that I can think of in the Gospels is when Jesus and the 12 are singing after the Passover... perhaps of course they were doing that to gain strength in view of the understanding that bad things were about to happen...not really entertaining.
I know that for a long time I have had a fun first mentality, a what can I get to please me view on life. Many times I found myself bored if I could not find a way to entertain myself through thrills, adventures, social events, etc..and sad enough I would even get bored while having fun. It seems that there is another or deeper goal to attain to and I think the first commands that God ever gave man is the key to finding it out. The first command God gave Adam is to work and then later to him and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and to subdue the earth. What the heck does the last two mean?! Well, in giving it some thought I realize that they all kinda run together. You see....God realizes that deep in our hearts we have a longing to do something purposeful, and to see our lives count so He commands us to do that very thing. To find work that we can enjoy the satisfaction of being purpose full in and that we can see our actions matter in. To be fruitful and multiply..or to be productive and contribute. And lastly, to subdue the earth. What this means is that He wants us to take our work to the word and to leave our lasting mark on the world by what we do...just like He did in making all creation. When contemplating these thoughts I realized that fun at times can be a wrong way to achieve those higher goals...those first commands and that because of that we can be lift feeling dissatisfied and unfulfilled, that is if all we want to do is just seek fun.Fun doesn't get so fun after a while and people stop to see you as impressive if all you want to do is have fun.
The writers that were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write what was important realized this and that is why we have what is important about Jesus and the acts of the Apostles. So the question is how can I live with a goal to be fulfilled and not just entertained...for a moment? What really lasts? So, if your a lazy bum like me then lets get up and get some work done! :). Well thats my thoughts on that. John 10:10 " The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (esv)
I am starting a blog and will post future thoughts on it as well as other writings and just reflections, if you wanna follow them then go to.... http://howardlee58.blogspot.com/ . I would really love to hear your thoughts on this post and anything I scribble out :D.
My thoughts today are about fun indeed and the reason why I have had such trouble finding reasons to have it lately...basically it seems that fun has been kinda getting in the way of things, which is weird :). I remember when I first started reading the Bible and particularly the Gospels I would imagine what it would be like for the 12 disciples to travel along with Jesus through deserts and wildernesses, mountain tops and valleys and what they would just talk about. I mean I know that Jesus would seamlessly and masterfully blurt out parables and stuff but I wondered what fun they had, like if they would just tell jokes or would Jesus play pranks on them or would they play pranks on Him. And if these things did happen then why didn't the disciples see it particularly important to write about it years later for our benefit? The only account of fun or entertainment that I can think of in the Gospels is when Jesus and the 12 are singing after the Passover... perhaps of course they were doing that to gain strength in view of the understanding that bad things were about to happen...not really entertaining.
I know that for a long time I have had a fun first mentality, a what can I get to please me view on life. Many times I found myself bored if I could not find a way to entertain myself through thrills, adventures, social events, etc..and sad enough I would even get bored while having fun. It seems that there is another or deeper goal to attain to and I think the first commands that God ever gave man is the key to finding it out. The first command God gave Adam is to work and then later to him and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and to subdue the earth. What the heck does the last two mean?! Well, in giving it some thought I realize that they all kinda run together. You see....God realizes that deep in our hearts we have a longing to do something purposeful, and to see our lives count so He commands us to do that very thing. To find work that we can enjoy the satisfaction of being purpose full in and that we can see our actions matter in. To be fruitful and multiply..or to be productive and contribute. And lastly, to subdue the earth. What this means is that He wants us to take our work to the word and to leave our lasting mark on the world by what we do...just like He did in making all creation. When contemplating these thoughts I realized that fun at times can be a wrong way to achieve those higher goals...those first commands and that because of that we can be lift feeling dissatisfied and unfulfilled, that is if all we want to do is just seek fun.Fun doesn't get so fun after a while and people stop to see you as impressive if all you want to do is have fun.
The writers that were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write what was important realized this and that is why we have what is important about Jesus and the acts of the Apostles. So the question is how can I live with a goal to be fulfilled and not just entertained...for a moment? What really lasts? So, if your a lazy bum like me then lets get up and get some work done! :). Well thats my thoughts on that. John 10:10 " The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (esv)
I am starting a blog and will post future thoughts on it as well as other writings and just reflections, if you wanna follow them then go to.... http://howardlee58.blogspot.com/ . I would really love to hear your thoughts on this post and anything I scribble out :D.
I really enjoyed reading this post Howard. I think you have your finger on a significant issue effecting us all, and the college campus is probably wrapped up in this more than anywhere. Could you work this into a message for students? This is right where they are. BD
ReplyDeleteI sure could Ben. I am so happy you read this :)
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