{"id":347,"date":"2009-03-02T08:52:26","date_gmt":"2009-03-02T13:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidcprice.wordpress.com\/?p=347"},"modified":"2009-03-02T08:52:26","modified_gmt":"2009-03-02T13:52:26","slug":"trivial-pursuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/trivial-pursuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Trivial Pursuits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday at The Gathering<\/em>, we talked about “Trivial Pursuits” that steal our attention, our energy and our time and offer little benefit in return.\u00a0 We talked of how there are a lot of things that may be good<\/em> things, but if we’re honest, have to be put in the “trivial” category because of the place of importance they have in our lives.<\/p>\n

I suppose a definition of some sorts is in order here:\u00a0 a trivial pursuit is anything that comes in the place of God in which we seek lasting satisfaction, purpose or fulfillment for our lives.\u00a0 I bring in God to that equation because when we are seeking lasting satisfaction, purpose or fulfillment in these things we are pursuing, we are, essentially, asking those things to be a god for us…something worthy enough that we can devote our allegiance to, serve, give our time and energy to in hopes of receiving the “blessing” of meaning<\/em> from in return.<\/p>\n

When we’re talking in terms of looking for ultimate satisfaction from something we devote ourselves to, nothing is worthy of being put in the place of a god that can be either lost or destroyed.\u00a0 While we often look for purpose in our jobs, relationships, projects, money, status, etc., using our criteria above, none is worthy of our complete devotion as a god because all of that can be lost or destroyed through either death, being layed off, down-turned economy, etc.\u00a0 So where is the meaning?<\/p>\n

In comes Christ (and I’m not equating Christ with “religion.” Religion cannot offer lasting satisfaction either!).\u00a0 He says, “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men”.\u00a0 We (society at large) find something noble and worthy in meeting the needs of people, don’t we?\u00a0 Individuals and corporations give countless hours and money to helping to take care of people.\u00a0 Hollywood is enamored with it.\u00a0 There are numerous foundations established for that purpose and a growing list of causes on Facebook demonstrates it, as well.<\/p>\n

I think this is the case because there is something that has been put within us that wants to care for others.\u00a0 In this, we find satisfaction and a purpose beyond ourselves.\u00a0 Yet, there is something that doesn’t quite seem completely satisfying if we stop and think that anything we do for an individual is temporary at best.\u00a0 All I’m doing is giving a little comfort for a short term. That can make all of our work still feel somewhat futile.<\/p>\n

What if there is more?\u00a0 What if I can meet someone’s needs by feeding them and clothing them, by helping them fight desease and providing other necessities, but also make a difference in them that will last for eternity<\/em>?\u00a0 Now that’s<\/em> making a difference!\u00a0 That’s what I find in the God-man, Jesus.\u00a0 I get to find satisfaction in Him, knowing that He is going to take care of me regardless of the economy or relational ups and downs, instability in the world, at large, or anything else that might come my way (John 10:10<\/a>, Matthew 6:19-34<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Then, on top of that, He gives me a reason for living\u2026a purpose or mission, if you will.\u00a0 I am to go and help others find that same fulfillment that lasts (Matthew 28:19-20<\/a>).\u00a0 That\u2019s real<\/em> living because then, if<\/em> I keep that as my motivator, nothing<\/em> I do is trivial.\u00a0 All of the things I enjoy doing that are neutral, in and of themselves (hiking, fishing, golfing, etc.), including the relationships I have, whatever job I have, along with every other part of my life takes on meaning<\/em>.\u00a0 When it\u2019s part of my mission, I am no longer engaging in trivial pursuits but real life<\/em> that provides satisfaction and purpose and, usually, a whole lot of fun along the way.<\/p>\n

So, maybe it’s time to take a hard look in the mirror, get real honest with who we are what we’re doing with the time and energy we’ve been given, and give up playing Trivial Pursuit with our lives.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tTweet<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…there is something that has been put within us that wants to care for others. In this, we find satisfaction and a purpose beyond ourselves. Yet, there is something that doesn’t quite seem completely satisfying if we stop and think that anything we do for an individual is temporary at best. All I’m doing is giving a little comfort for a short term. That can make all of our work still feel somewhat futile. What if there is more? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4],"tags":[684,186,222,242,278,290,408,469],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3jKZO-5B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2320,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/sermon-video-the-calamity-of-sowing-the-wind\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":0},"title":"Sermon Video: The Calamity of Sowing the Wind","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm always a little taken aback when I stop long enough to think of how easy it is to engage in trivial pursuits in life. \u00a0Hosea calls it \"sowing the wind.\" Do you ever find yourself engaged in trivial pursuits? \u00a0Trying to attain things that ultimately don't matter and can't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermons"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":224,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/is-it-a-wonderful-life-1-john-31-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":1},"title":"Is it a wonderful life? 1 John 3:1-3","date":"December 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"How many times have we wondered what it will be like when those of us who have trusted in Christ will enter into heaven?\u00a0 Some of the popular notions include wings, essentially becoming angels (ala It's A Wonderful Life), or spiritual beings with no real form or physical identity.\u00a0 Others\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "PSI (Personal Spiritual Insight)"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4213,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/65-years-and-counting-only-by-the-grace-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":2},"title":"65 Years and Counting…Only By the Grace of God","date":"February 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"65 years ago today, a very young couple stood hand-in-hand to declare their undying love and devotion to each other, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death parts them. By God\u2019s grace they have fulfilled the former and not yet had to experience the latter. Had\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidcprice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/E206D8B0-2F24-40DD-865B-4432D86EC34A-e1549284394489.jpeg?fit=500%2C500&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3252,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/transcript-of-3-gifts-of-the-savior-series-hope\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":3},"title":"Transcript of 3 Gifts of the Savior Series: Hope","date":"December 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"[Video available on my Sermon Video page here.] The Gathering, Chattanooga December 6, 2015 ~The doctor slowly walked in and sat down with the look on his face that said it all. \u00a0Before he could say a word, tears began to stream down her face as she leaned onto her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermons"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2534,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/making-time-learning-to-invest-this-precious-gift-from-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":4},"title":"Making Time: Learning to Invest This Precious Gift From God","date":"December 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"TIME has been on my mind a lot lately.\u00a0 As I near the end of another year, I'm analyzing what has gone well and what hasn't gone quite as well (notice the gracious way in which I didn't say those things bombed?)\u00a0 One thing that I haven't done so well\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Productivity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":267,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/fear-itself-1-john-418-21\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":5},"title":"Fear, Itself. – 1 John 4:18-21","date":"December 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I've really had to chew on this passage and, to some degree, am continuing to chew as I write to see if what I'm thinking makes sense.\u00a0 John says in 1 John 4:18 that, \"there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.\"\u00a0 Honestly, I think that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "PSI (Personal Spiritual Insight)"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}