Summer is known for releasing blockbusters. And at the risk of affecting your image of how cool I am, I need to tell you I want to see one more. G.I. Joe. That’s right; the preferred toy of me and all my friends is being made into a movie. I can remember many, many days spent setting up and enacting battles between the Joes and their arch enemies, the Cobras. If I still have any sense of cool left, let me get rid of that now by telling you that I still have all my G.I. Joes from my childhood. I only kept them for my kids to play with...no, really….seriously.
I recently pulled them all out from boxes that have been taped for more than twenty years. After cleaning off two decades worth of dust, I introduced my children to my old toys. All the effort I put into packing, shipping, storing, and cleaning was worth it to hear my son ask why their weapons do not fire automatically. What’s wrong with kids today?
I was playing with my children the other day and explaining which guys were good and which were bad. I was reminiscing about how much I played as a kid with my friends and their G.I. Joes. Then I mentioned that my friends and I would sometimes trade toys. That is when Jacie, my 7-year old, said matter-of-factly, “That’s not very good, Dad. You should be happy with what you have.” This from the girl who just prattled off a birthday list as long as my arm with things that would complete her happiness.
But she has a point. It made me wonder how often we do that as Christians. The Apostle Paul talked about this when he wrote the church in Philippi. He said that, even beyond materialism which has obvious pitfalls, we tend to want more and compare ourselves with one another. His conclusion?
“The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant…” (Philippians 3:7-8, The Message)
I have some cool, vintage action figures. But what I have in Jesus Christ is worth far more. That’s something that I will not trade.
I recently pulled them all out from boxes that have been taped for more than twenty years. After cleaning off two decades worth of dust, I introduced my children to my old toys. All the effort I put into packing, shipping, storing, and cleaning was worth it to hear my son ask why their weapons do not fire automatically. What’s wrong with kids today?
I was playing with my children the other day and explaining which guys were good and which were bad. I was reminiscing about how much I played as a kid with my friends and their G.I. Joes. Then I mentioned that my friends and I would sometimes trade toys. That is when Jacie, my 7-year old, said matter-of-factly, “That’s not very good, Dad. You should be happy with what you have.” This from the girl who just prattled off a birthday list as long as my arm with things that would complete her happiness.
But she has a point. It made me wonder how often we do that as Christians. The Apostle Paul talked about this when he wrote the church in Philippi. He said that, even beyond materialism which has obvious pitfalls, we tend to want more and compare ourselves with one another. His conclusion?
“The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant…” (Philippians 3:7-8, The Message)
I have some cool, vintage action figures. But what I have in Jesus Christ is worth far more. That’s something that I will not trade.
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