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- Apr 25, 2006
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Get smart (3)
'Wisdom is better than muscle' Ecclesiastes 9:16
Shampoo companies say 'because you're worth it'. Careers advisors say 'you are in the driving seat'. Even clothes on shop hangers seem to scream 'you can be who you want to be (if you just buy me)'. A lot of our world is geared to getting us thinking about ourselves. We're a self-absorbed, self-important race of people. Wisdom says, 'Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.' (Phil. 2:4 NLT).
The difference between a child and a grown-up is not whether you watch Tweenies or not, it's how you think of others. A child can happily bully others into his own way but a grown up thinks of others' needs as well as their own. Childish Christians treat God like the tooth fairy: 'what little present might He leave under my pillow tonight?'
Prayer is like the Argos catalogue - page after page of stuff to bring them happiness. Church is like V Festival - they hope their favourite songs are played. Childish Christians play with God like a toy for their purposes. Grown-up Christians get smart; they wake up expecting God to work through them in fresh ways. They make the 'me-first' mental shift to 'God-first' - praying like Paul, 'I don't think about what would be good for me but what would be good for many people so that they might be saved' (1 Cor. 5:20).
written by Bob Gass
'Wisdom is better than muscle' Ecclesiastes 9:16
Shampoo companies say 'because you're worth it'. Careers advisors say 'you are in the driving seat'. Even clothes on shop hangers seem to scream 'you can be who you want to be (if you just buy me)'. A lot of our world is geared to getting us thinking about ourselves. We're a self-absorbed, self-important race of people. Wisdom says, 'Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.' (Phil. 2:4 NLT).
The difference between a child and a grown-up is not whether you watch Tweenies or not, it's how you think of others. A child can happily bully others into his own way but a grown up thinks of others' needs as well as their own. Childish Christians treat God like the tooth fairy: 'what little present might He leave under my pillow tonight?'
Prayer is like the Argos catalogue - page after page of stuff to bring them happiness. Church is like V Festival - they hope their favourite songs are played. Childish Christians play with God like a toy for their purposes. Grown-up Christians get smart; they wake up expecting God to work through them in fresh ways. They make the 'me-first' mental shift to 'God-first' - praying like Paul, 'I don't think about what would be good for me but what would be good for many people so that they might be saved' (1 Cor. 5:20).
written by Bob Gass
