Monday Morning Perspective

Yesterday we were so blessed that our schedule in Atlanta allowed us to go to church at North Point. For those of you who don't know, that is Andy Stanley's church. They have several campuses and since we were staying in Alpharetta we attended that campus. What an awesome service!! As we usually do when we get to visit a new place we toured ourselves around after the service...very cool facility. They also have a bookstore and the Leopards can never pass that up so we did some shopping as well for some good Christian lit.
Andy Stanley was there but taking time off from preaching. I was a little bummed at first but not for long. Justin brought the Word in a powerful way, very visual which was especially good for me.
They are in a series called More, how practical in our day. He used the story of Jacob and Esau and how Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. I always thought that was just incredibly ridiculous but the way Justin unpacked it, it's easy to see how we do the same thing every day. We trade our tomorrows for today all the time. He talked about our appetites for more stuff, to be affirmed, to be liked. The problem with appetites is they have the power to control us and they can never be satisfied. We want the Best, the Latest, and More of it. Our appetites make us trade the word want for need. Esau allowed a current and temporary appetite to be greater than his future and in that moment everything changed. It would not be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau but it would be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said we trade big things for small things all the time...
Spending time with family for more time at work.
Good health for junk food.
Financial security for stuff we don't need.
Great marriage for winning an argument.
Great relationships for the need to be right.
A pure and godly marriage one day for sexual immorality now.
And we are great at justifying all for a bowl of stew. We don't have the discipline to say no to the temptations of life now to have a better future.
Without a clear picture of what we want our future to look like we will settle for whatever makes you feel good at the moment.
Couldn't help but think of our younger generation. Oh if they would just think how the people they choose to date and hang with now are affecting their futures. The choices they make when they are young are going to affect their future spouse and children and maybe even cost them relationships to come. It goes back to what Duffy said one year at Student Life, "think backwards...if I do this what could happen". Powerful message and so thankful to have heard it. As David Revelle says a lot, what does all of this (petty little stuff) matter in light of eternity. We are definitely a people with our eyes on the now and so often trading the awesome stuff God has for our future for the crappy little stuff we focus on today. So thankful He is a God of mercy and redemption.