Here's the Weekly! Some thoughts regarding this past week's message... I heard from the small group leaders that "the future" or specifically "our future" was one of the things we hold highest and place immense value on (sometimes we value it more than we value God, to be honest).
The thing I've discovered about this is: When we so highly value GRADES because they will get us into college and then COLLEGE because it will get us a degree and then A DEGREE because it will get us a job and then OUR JOB because it will get us money and then MONEY because we need it to get married AND SO ON... (Not that any of these things are BAD things, but they should not be placed HIGHER than our relationship with God and our SPIRITUAL GROWTH).. When we do this, we're always living for THE NEXT moment ("I'll be happy when get done with high school," "I'll be content when I finish college," "I'll be satisfied once I get a job," etc.).
You need to see where God is working in your life RIGHT NOW and be content in that, knowing that the NEXT thing WILL eventually come. But God has you where you are in life for a reason (and hasn't allowed time machines to be invented for a reason!) and you'll never be truly HAPPY / AT PEACE / JOYFUL until you see this and be content in THE HERE NOW.
So, 2 summary points: 1) Be content where you are. You won't always be where you are and as soon as you move into a different stage of life you may miss this one.
And 2) God must be first. Don't let GOOD things get in the way of THE GREATEST thing (God). Don't allow greatest importance and first priority to be given to anything less than God Himself and your own personal spiritual growth.
-AB-
