I was in church listening to a sermon; well it was really a sermon wrapped up in a story.

Our guest speaker, (Lyn Sahr) started out life as a salesman. Having grown up poor, he was determined to be rich, and was on the way to doing just that in part at least.

One day the Lord tapped him on the shoulder and let him know He had a different way for him to go. Lyn became a pastor; he pastored small churches never really getting to where he wanted to go which was to pastor a much larger church.

After praying to God about this and exclaiming that there had to be more then this, (I’m paraphrasing of course) things began to happen. Lyn went to Minneapolis to pick up toys for distribution in Mexico for kids there. Instead of toys, they received a truck loaded with food! They boxed all the food up and gave it away in their community. Then they received a cube van…for free. They kept going to Minneapolis to get food, and then giving it away.

Be careful what you ask God for, you might get it! Ruby’s Pantry was born, a food distribution network for the poor, or anyone who is in need. For a small donation, ($15.00) people walk away with around $100.00 to $200.00 worth of food. No income guidelines, no questions asked. Our church participates in this ministry; in one weekend alone we served 300 families…that is awesome.

What does all this have to do with the world?

What truly gives you a sense of satisfaction? Is it the things of this world? Think about that before you answer.

Jesus as Good Shepherd
(stained glass at St John’s Ashfield)

I have known many a person that has a lot of things. They don’t seem happy to me. Obviously the world wasn’t cutting it for Lyn Sahr…he could have refused the Lord’s call, many do.

People who have many things, or a lot of money…typically want more. Not all people, many of them. The quest for “stuff” is nothing short of disgusting in this world. Does it really satisfy? I think not, if it did, then why do people always want more stuff? Why is life about getting all the toys money can buy? People are trying to buy themselves happiness. The problem with that is it’s not going to work.

If you can see into these people’s lives, you can see that they are not satisfied; some will even admit that “something” seems to be missing!

The new car isn’t new for long. The novelty of that awesome new house does indeed wear off. You can only watch so much TV on the new big screen you just bought. The eight thousand dollar John Deere mower you bought only mows grass, so you can’t be on it all the time. There is nothing wrong with wanting some things in life. There is nothing wrong with having some of the finer things the world has to offer if you can afford them.

Where is your focus in life though? Are you enjoying a few things the world has to offer that are acceptable within the guidelines of God? Or are you wrapped up in the world and what it offers, and God is just a secondary consideration? Or is God even in the picture at all?

True contentment does not come from having all the things, the wants, the “I gotta haves” that the world offers us.

True contentment can only come from one place and one place alone. You will find true contentment for yourself only in a relationship with Jesus Christ and what you receive from that relationship. All of the things of the world ring hollow in comparison to the lasting benefits of what Christ has to offer.

What is passion number one in your life? Fishing, or maybe racing, or hiking, or boating? It should be God.

We were created to serve God, not the world. Do you enjoy some of life’s pleasures, or do life’s pleasures rule you?

The world and the things of the world are the highway to hell if not properly managed. At the very least they are Satan’s vehicles to throw you off track and cause you to become an ineffective servant of Christ. If your focus is on getting what you want from the world, you are not going to be concerned with serving the Creator. If you are focused on obtaining the world’s treasures, you are focused on the very thing that can and will destroy you.

The Apostle Paul was content with much, or with little, why was that? The single largest source of gratification in Paul’s life was Jesus Christ. When we learn that our center, our biggest need in life, our greatest want, the thing we desire most…is Christ, then we have learned the most important lesson in life.

So what about the world anyway?

Give me Jesus first, last, and in the middle. Then I’ll worry about the world and what it has to offer.

Anyone else getting on this train?