Do you have a hobby, something that you do in you that brings
you pleasure, that connects you with people of similar interest? A friend of mine loves baseball. He can
recite the most obscure statistics, knows details of games played 2 decades
ago, and follows his team, well yes, fanatically! It’s fun to watch. In the past I knew a Trekkie. For the uninformed,
that is a person who owns every Star Trek episode on DVD. Hey, what do I know?
It’s fun for them. Whatever our interest
– music, sport, camping, travel – these hobbies can add value to our lives by
giving us a creative outlet and by helping us to let go of the daily grind of
life.
Have you made your Christianity a hobby? How can you
know? If you are giving the Lord whatever time is left over after work,
school, home maintenance, or sports, He’s your hobby. If you fit in the
daily spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation, and Scripture intake after
the other demands of life are met, He’s your hobby. If your giving to God’s work in the world comes
out of the checkbook last – not first – He’s your hobby.
When asked how best to please the Lord, Jesus answered this
way - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark
12:30, NIV) That reads like a first priority, not a secondary interest, doesn’t
it? Some of you may be objecting that this
sounds like duty, a life-killing religious obligation. When we serve from
love, there is delight! Ask any fan if their sacrifice to get the best
ticket, to find that obscure item, is dutiful and they will tell you it is not.
Why? Because they love what they are pursuing!
The preacher Malachi received a word from God for His
people. Seems that the Jews were blessed, but they forgot Who was blessing
them. God was pushed to fringe of life so that they could pursue their own
desires and plans. He was getting the left-overs. He said, “I
am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me
all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They’re saying
it everywhere: ‘God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.’ “All
except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when
you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no
account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You
act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me,
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a
hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This
is God speaking to you! “A curse on the person who makes a big show
of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the
last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I’m a great king,
God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it!"
A 'hobby' God is unable to meet our deepest needs.
That is one of the reasons that so many Christians are unfulfilled – chasing
experience, moving from church to church, abandoning Christ’s Body – the Church.
God has not failed to meet their needs. They have asked Him to live in the
wrong place on the fringe rather than at the center of their
lives.
So, ponder this word from the Word today. Mediate
deeply on it. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
(Jeremiah 29:11-13, NIV)
________
(A Gospel song that will bless you!)
Jesus You're the center of my joy
All that's good and perfect comes from You
You're the heart of my contentment
Hope for all I do
Jesus You're the center of my joy
When I've lost my direction
You're the compass for my way
You're the fire and light
When nights are long and cold
In sadness You are the laughter
That shatters all my fears
When I'm all alone
Your hand is there to hold
Oh
You are why I find pleasure
In the simple things of life
You're the music
In the meadows and the streams
The voices of the children
My fam'ly and my home
You're the source and finish
Of my highest dreams
(Oh yeah)
Jesus You're the center of my joy
All that's good and perfect comes from You
You're the heart of my contentment
Hope for all I do
Jesus You are the center of my joy
Jesus You're the center of my joy
When I'm lonely when I'm afraid
You are there to guide my way
You're my heart You're my contentment
Hope for all I do
Jesus
You're the center of my joy joy
You're my Joy
Gloria Gaither | Richard Smallwood | William J. Gaither
© 1987 Century Oak Publishing Group (Admin. by Conexion
Media Group, Inc.)
Richwood Music (Admin. by Conexion Media Group, Inc.)
William J. Gaither, Inc. (Admin. by Gaither Copyright
Management)
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