MONTANA TALK #1 notes

SOME NOTES AND QUOTES BELOW...

Don’t Waste Your Life on the Things that Don’t Matter

A HUGE QUESTION FOR THE WEEK:
What does it mean to waste my life? That is a burning question. Or, more positively, what does it mean to live well—not to waste life, but to…? How to finish that sentence was the question. I was not even sure how to put the question into words, let alone what the answer might be. What is the opposite of not wasting my life? “To be successful in a career”? Or “to find the deepest meaning and significance”? Or “to help as many people as possible”? Or “to serve Christ to the full”? Or “to glorify God in all I do”? Or is there a point, a purpose, a focus, an essence to life that would fulfill every one of those dreams? JOHN PIPER

I JOHN 2:15-17…Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.


Popularity and Status—ISAIAH 40:6-8
We all know if we are in or out, don’t we?


Achievements for Reward’s Sake—LUKE 6:12-16; I COR 3:11-13
How much of your life is trying to prove yourself worthy?


Our Bodies and our Looks—I TIMOTHY 4:8
We all need an extreme makeover, don’t we?


Possessions and Money—MATTHEW 6:19-24; 25:14-30
“Every time we give we remind ourselves of several things: God is on the throne; All that I have is from Him; I do, in fact, trust God; I’ve been given an awful lot—JOHN ORTBERG


The overwhelming needs of our world issue a call to us for strategic living…we must realize that when we spend our resources on our own private wants and concerns, it leaves fewer resources for the Kingdom’s crucial and central concerns of great importance…and God has given each of us the chance of a lifetime in His appointment of us as His Kingdom resource managers…


“At these moments, when the trifling fog of life clears and I see what I am really on earth to do, I groan over the petty pursuits that waste so many lives—and so much of mine. Just think of the magnitude of sports—a whole section of the daily newspaper. But there is no section on God. Think of the endless resources for making your home and garden more comfortable and impressive. Think of how many tens of thousands of dollars you can spend to buy more car than you need. Think of the time and energy and conversation and leisure and what we call “fun stuff.” Or think about how we view our clothes. What a tragedy to see so many people obsessed with what they wear and how they look. And add to that now the computer that artificially recreates the very games that are already so distant from reality; it is like a multi-layered dream world of insignificance expanding into nothingness.” JOHN PIPER



Let us consider this final advice as a manager of God’s Trust He’s given in your one life: choose your investments carefully; compare their rates of interest; consider their ultimate trustworthiness; and especially compare how they will be working for you a few million years from now…RANDY ALCORN