For those of you who are receiving this by email, if you have time, click on the link for my blog and check out a cool feature I have recently added. Once on the blog, http://www.colincreel.blogspot.com/, move the cursor over the Scripture reference and see what happens. In addition, for most posts that include a passage from a book, I add a link for those that are interested to find out more about the book referenced. I also have added some fun pictures of Cole in the sidebar.
The heart always provides for what it values (Matthew 6:19-34), and if we value God first, our capacity to love him and others will expand. If we value the world first, we will miss out on not only the joys of knowing God but also the joys of this life. Relationships will denigrate into contacts, and we will seek to manipulate people to get what we think we want. We will be driven to accomplish and impress, and this will detract from quality time with those we love. Activities will take precedence over intimacy, both with God and with people. The idol of accomplishment will erode the aesthetics of the spirit and leave us busy and weary. We will work harder to influence people, and by seeking our security in their responses, we will become disconnected from our true security in Christ. The only way off this treadmill is repentance and return to the pursuit of Christ in place of the pursuit of the world.
Ken Boa, Conformed to His Image (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI: 2001), 47.
