Wake Up To Your Need For Christ - Resisting Apathy pt.5

So often we turn to things like money, stuff, safety and security to give us what we need. In doing so, we often grow apathetic towards our true need: Christ.

In this episode, Aaron gives a message pointing us to the reality of our need for a savior. We need to wake up to the reality that we need Jesus more than we need anyone or anything else. The world is full of sin and darkness, and apathy lulls us to a sleepy place of comfortability with sin. We know sin leads to death, but so often we don't treat it that way. We need to wake up and see sin for the destructive force it is. We must resist apathy and turn towards Christ.

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00:00:00 --> 00:00:00 Be honest.

00:00:01 --> 00:00:02 When you hear the question,

00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 what do you need to feel happy,

00:00:05 --> 00:00:05 safe,

00:00:06 --> 00:00:06 and secure,

00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 what's one of the first things that comes to your mind?

00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 For a lot of us, the answer to that question is money.

00:00:14 --> 00:00:19 Money which brings safety and security and money that buys stuff.

00:00:23 --> 00:00:23 However,

00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 money has been shown that it doesn't always bring the safety

00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 and security it seems

00:00:29 --> 00:00:29 to promise.

00:00:30 --> 00:00:31 Here's a few examples.

00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery twice,

00:00:34 --> 00:00:35 once in 1985 and once in 1986 for $5.4 million.

00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 Today, the money is all gone and Adams lives in a trailer on food stamps.

00:00:46 --> 00:00:50 Evelyn says, I won the American dream, but I lost it too.

00:00:50 --> 00:00:51 It was a very hard fall.

00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 It's called rock bottom.

00:00:53 --> 00:00:57 William Post now scrapes out a living on his social security

00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 checks and food stamps,

00:00:58 --> 00:01:03 but he once won the 16.2 million Pennsylvania lottery back in 1988.

00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 Mr. Post says, I wish it never happened.

00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 It was a total nightmare.

00:01:09 --> 00:01:13 I was careless and foolish, just trying to please everyone else.

00:01:13 --> 00:01:14 Now I'm tired,

00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 I'm over 65 years old,

00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 and I just had a serious operation for a heart aneurysm.

00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 Lotteries don't mean anything to me.

00:01:22 --> 00:01:26 Ken Proxmire in Michigan used the $1 million he won from the

00:01:26 --> 00:01:27 lottery to open up a car business.

00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 Within five years, he was bankrupt.

00:01:30 --> 00:01:34 William Hurt spent the $3.1 million he won in the Michigan

00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 lottery on his divorce

00:01:35 --> 00:01:36 and crack cocaine.

00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 Within two years, he was broke and charged with murder.

00:01:40 --> 00:01:40 And finally,

00:01:41 --> 00:01:45 Charles Riddle won the Michigan lottery for $1 million in 1975.

00:01:46 --> 00:01:47 His marriage came apart,

00:01:48 --> 00:01:49 he was sued by people wanting his money,

00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 and he was arrested for selling cocaine.

00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 Aaron, why do you bring up all of these depressing stories?

00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 I'll tell you, here's why.

00:01:58 --> 00:02:02 It's because I want us to understand that as much as we think

00:02:03 --> 00:02:04 money is what we need,

00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 all of the people in these stories grew their savings accounts

00:02:08 --> 00:02:09 larger than I,

00:02:09 --> 00:02:10 or probably you,

00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 could ever hope to dream to in this life,

00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 and yet it wasn't what they needed.

00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 Everything fell apart.

00:02:21 --> 00:02:25 because they tried to get what they needed from money.

00:02:26 --> 00:02:30 None of them realized what they truly needed for safety,

00:02:31 --> 00:02:31 security,

00:02:32 --> 00:02:33 and happiness.

00:02:33 --> 00:02:38 And that's a deep relationship with Jesus Christ,

00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 the creator of the universe,

00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 the lover of our souls,

00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 the one who hung and bled on a cross for us.

00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 This episode today is all about waking up

00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 to our need for Christ.

00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 Let's go back to an illustration that we used in the very first

00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 episode of this series,

00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 and that's the illustration of the sleeping sickness.

00:03:02 --> 00:03:07 In the early 1900s, more than 100 people died in a single area.

00:03:08 --> 00:03:13 These deaths were caused by a parasite carried by a tiny fly.

00:03:14 --> 00:03:18 The bites from the fly would transfer the parasite and slowly

00:03:18 --> 00:03:19 multiply the parasite

00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 within the victim's bloodstream.

00:03:22 --> 00:03:26 As gruesome as that is, this was a painless disease.

00:03:26 --> 00:03:27 The bites didn't hurt,

00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 but they caused drowsiness,

00:03:30 --> 00:03:30 sleep,

00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 and eventual death.

00:03:33 --> 00:03:34 Before these facts were known,

00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 people saw no connection between the fly bites and death,

00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 and so they didn't even bother to brush the flies away.

00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 I want to remind you that the way that the tactics of the devil,

00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 the enemy of our soul,

00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 works is just like that fly.

00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 The enemy comes into our life and brings sin,

00:03:54 --> 00:03:55 compromise,

00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 and apathy into our lives.

00:03:58 --> 00:04:02 And it becomes so common that we don't even bother to brush the

00:04:02 --> 00:04:02 enemy away.

00:04:02 --> 00:04:06 He makes us sleepy, but that sleep can lead to death.

00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 And you can have a saved soul, but a wasted life.

00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 If you knew you were being bit by poisonous flies, what would you do?

00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 If you truly knew Satan's poison,

00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 what would you do to keep it away from your life?

00:04:21 --> 00:04:26 The reality is we are all sinners in desperate need of a savior.

00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 But for church kids,

00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 for people who grew up in the faith,

00:04:30 --> 00:04:34 this is probably one of the easiest places for us to become

00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 apathetic because we

00:04:36 --> 00:04:36 said a prayer.

00:04:37 --> 00:04:38 We walked down an aisle.

00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 We went to church camp.

00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 We volunteered at VBS.

00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 We grew up in a Christian home.

00:04:44 --> 00:04:45 We had Christian parents.

00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 And so we know we've got our get out of hell free card.

00:04:50 --> 00:04:51 We know we're saved.

00:04:52 --> 00:04:53 Jesus is my buddy.

00:04:54 --> 00:04:54 Everything's great.

00:04:55 --> 00:04:59 All the while, the enemy is poisoning us.

00:04:59 --> 00:05:05 He is deceiving us into sin and compromise that leads to this

00:05:05 --> 00:05:06 apathy where we don't

00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 want to even care about what God has to say because we're

00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 afraid of being told that

00:05:13 --> 00:05:13 we're wrong.

00:05:14 --> 00:05:18 We're afraid of being told that we need to change,

00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 which is one of the most loving things you can be told.

00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 If you are sinking into a puddle of quicksand,

00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 it doesn't matter how comfortable you are.

00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 It doesn't matter how much you love the scenery.

00:05:30 --> 00:05:34 It is not loving for someone to let you sink.

00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 It is loving to tell you, hey, wake up.

00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 Let me pull you out of that quicksand.

00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 Let me save you.

00:05:43 --> 00:05:47 It is one of the hardest things for us church kids to recognize

00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 that we need to be saved.

00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 And you might be listening and thinking, I'm already saved, Aaron.

00:05:54 --> 00:05:54 I'm already saved.

00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 What are you talking about?

00:05:56 --> 00:05:56 Yeah,

00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 you may be saved from a future hell,

00:05:58 --> 00:06:02 but you also need to be saved from the hell that you create in

00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 your own life when

00:06:03 --> 00:06:07 you compromise and you open yourself up to the tricks of the enemy.

00:06:08 --> 00:06:08 Listen,

00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 I believe hell is a future reality,

00:06:10 --> 00:06:15 but I also believe it exists in the present because wherever we

00:06:15 --> 00:06:16 allow the enemy to

00:06:16 --> 00:06:22 bring lying and deception and hatred and envy and jealousy and

00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 strife and lust,

00:06:24 --> 00:06:30 We are allowing him to bring pockets of hell into our lives,

00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 into our marriages,

00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 into our walks with God.

00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 And that is such a sad place to be,

00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 but it is a place that so many of us,

00:06:39 --> 00:06:40 myself included,

00:06:41 --> 00:06:41 have been.

00:06:41 --> 00:06:46 To be a Christian and yet to be compromising and sinning to the

00:06:46 --> 00:06:47 point where you are

00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 asleep with apathy.

00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 Now you might be asking the question, how can I know then?

00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 How can I know if my conscience is asleep?

00:06:55 --> 00:06:55 And by conscience,

00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 I don't mean like Jiminy Cricket,

00:06:57 --> 00:06:57 you know,

00:06:57 --> 00:06:58 from Pinocchio.

00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 I'm talking about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit never sleeps,

00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 but we can grow sleepy to the point where we're not listening

00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 to what the Spirit is saying.

00:07:08 --> 00:07:09 So to answer the question,

00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 how do you know that your conscience is asleep?

00:07:11 --> 00:07:12 Well,

00:07:12 --> 00:07:12 one,

00:07:12 --> 00:07:16 if you allow yourself to participate in sin on a regular basis

00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 without care or remorse.

00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 If you find yourself indulging in sin and making excuses for

00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 your sin and finding

00:07:25 --> 00:07:29 reasons for why it's not really that bad and why God will just

00:07:29 --> 00:07:30 forgive me and no

00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 one can judge me but God and he'll forgive me anyway.

00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 When we get to that point,

00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 It means that our conscience is asleep and you think,

00:07:38 --> 00:07:38 oh,

00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 I've just made compromises here and here and here,

00:07:41 --> 00:07:42 but I've got it under control.

00:07:42 --> 00:07:43 I'm not going to go further.

00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 Ask yourself the question, look at where you are now.

00:07:47 --> 00:07:51 Did you want to end up here six months ago when you first

00:07:51 --> 00:07:52 started compromising?

00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 Did you think you would end up where you are now?

00:07:55 --> 00:07:56 That's how it works.

00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 Remember the flies,

00:07:58 --> 00:07:59 the sleeping sickness,

00:08:00 --> 00:08:01 the little bites seem like nothing,

00:08:02 --> 00:08:03 but they lead to death.

00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 Way number two,

00:08:04 --> 00:08:08 your conscience is asleep if you live without self-reflection.

00:08:09 --> 00:08:14 It is so hard for us to face our own darkness because our

00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 darkness makes us uncomfortable.

00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 People don't like to sit around and think about their own wickedness.

00:08:21 --> 00:08:21 What do we like?

00:08:22 --> 00:08:26 We like to hear about how good we are, how virtuous we are.

00:08:28 --> 00:08:32 We love getting likes on social media because we share the best

00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 part of ourselves

00:08:33 --> 00:08:33 with the world.

00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 But when it comes to the true us,

00:08:36 --> 00:08:36 and yes,

00:08:36 --> 00:08:36 yes,

00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 there is good in every Christian,

00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 but there is also the flesh.

00:08:40 --> 00:08:46 And if we do not take time to sit and bring to mind the ways

00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 that we are living out

00:08:48 --> 00:08:49 through our flesh,

00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 through the shadow side of our soul,

00:08:52 --> 00:08:56 we will never be honest enough with ourself to actually deal

00:08:56 --> 00:08:57 with the problems.

00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 If you talk to any addict,

00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 you can be looking at this person and thinking it is so obvious

00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 that they're addicted.

00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 But if they won't admit that they're addicted,

00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 if they won't admit they have a problem,

00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 they're never going to break out of it.

00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 We must self-reflect.

00:09:12 --> 00:09:16 We must sit before God and confess our sins.

00:09:17 --> 00:09:21 We must ask, like David, Lord, search my heart.

00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 Is there any wicked thing inside my heart?

00:09:24 --> 00:09:25 Help me understand.

00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 One of the worst places you can be is when you just think that

00:09:29 --> 00:09:29 you're okay and

00:09:29 --> 00:09:30 everything's fine.

00:09:31 --> 00:09:32 Every single Christian,

00:09:32 --> 00:09:38 from the most spiritual pastor and elder and leader to the new believer,

00:09:39 --> 00:09:44 every single one of us should self-reflect and ask God to help

00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 us repent often.

00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 The third reason that your conscience may be asleep is if you

00:09:49 --> 00:09:50 rarely feel a

00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 desperate need for God.

00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 For a human being made in God's image,

00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 designed for relationship with Him,

00:09:58 --> 00:10:02 but existing in the world of the flesh and the devil and sin,

00:10:02 --> 00:10:08 for us to not recognize our need for God is like a fish out of

00:10:08 --> 00:10:09 water flopping on

00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 the shore who does not acknowledge their need for the ocean.

00:10:13 --> 00:10:18 It's like a starving beggar who does not acknowledge or think

00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 of his hunger.

00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 And yet it's so easy for us to neglect our own need for Christ

00:10:24 --> 00:10:25 because it is so

00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 easy to numb that need with other things.

00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 We live in the age of constant entertainment.

00:10:32 --> 00:10:32 And yeah,

00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 some of that entertainment is sinful,

00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 but there's plenty of entertainment that's just fine.

00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 And yet I know from my own experience,

00:10:39 --> 00:10:44 I can be so entertained with books and magazines and TV shows

00:10:44 --> 00:10:45 and video games and

00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 walks in the park and ice cream that I don't acknowledge my

00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 desperate need for the

00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 God who made me and loved me and died for me.

00:10:55 --> 00:10:59 The analogy that comes to my mind is if you have a laptop,

00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 what does the laptop need to stay on?

00:11:03 --> 00:11:04 It needs the power cable.

00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 It needs to be plugged into the electric socket in the wall.

00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 Without that, it will die.

00:11:12 --> 00:11:16 now a laptop has more than one port it has a power port sure

00:11:16 --> 00:11:17 but it has tons of

00:11:17 --> 00:11:21 other ports display ports and usb ports and you can plug a lot

00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 of things into that

00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 laptop in fact the laptop i'm looking at right now has seven

00:11:25 --> 00:11:26 different ports i

00:11:26 --> 00:11:30 could plug seven different things into this laptop but what's

00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 going to happen if i

00:11:31 --> 00:11:36 do that without the power connected the laptop is actually

00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 going to drain faster

00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 the more things i plug into it

00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 And the same goes for us.

00:11:42 --> 00:11:46 If we continue to plug all of these other things,

00:11:46 --> 00:11:46 some of them good,

00:11:47 --> 00:11:47 some of them bad,

00:11:47 --> 00:11:48 it doesn't matter.

00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 If we're not connected to the source,

00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 everything else in life will just drain us faster.

00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 We need to be plugged into the source of all life.

00:11:58 --> 00:12:02 The fourth way that you know that your conscience is asleep is if you are

00:12:02 --> 00:12:06 constantly finding yourself drawn to sensual and carnal things

00:12:07 --> 00:12:08 where there's no

00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 check in your spirit that says,

00:12:10 --> 00:12:10 hey,

00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 maybe I shouldn't pursue this.

00:12:12 --> 00:12:13 Maybe I shouldn't go after this.

00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 Maybe there's something harmful to my soul inside of this.

00:12:18 --> 00:12:23 but instead you find yourself just drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

00:12:24 --> 00:12:24 And conversely,

00:12:25 --> 00:12:29 you don't sense yourself really being drawn at all to spend

00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 time with God and

00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 fellowship with other believers and serve people and love

00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 people and to devote

00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 yourself to Christ in any way.

00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 Finally,

00:12:37 --> 00:12:41 the fifth way is you ignore warning signs from God and from

00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 others and consistently

00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 just do whatever you want to do.

00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 All of this reminds me of a modern parable I once heard.

00:12:49 --> 00:12:53 There was once a man who was asleep on a plane when something happened.

00:12:53 --> 00:12:57 The man was in a deep sleep and so he could not really see or

00:12:57 --> 00:12:58 hear the things around him.

00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 He could only feel through sense the things around him.

00:13:02 --> 00:13:06 And at first, as he was sleeping, he felt something pleasant.

00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 It became very warm.

00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 And he thought he was having this wonderful dream because he

00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 felt like he was

00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 flying through the air.

00:13:14 --> 00:13:19 And then he opens his eyes and he realizes the plane had just exploded.

00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 The warmth was from the fire of the flames.

00:13:22 --> 00:13:26 And yes, he was flying in the air towards the ocean.

00:13:27 --> 00:13:28 Similarly,

00:13:28 --> 00:13:32 those sleeping in sin feel the warm pleasures,

00:13:33 --> 00:13:37 but they don't realize that they're in a plane headed for a crash.

00:13:37 --> 00:13:41 The warm pleasures of sin may lead to the fires of hell.

00:13:42 --> 00:13:46 I deeply want to explain to you the importance of how much we

00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 need dependence on

00:13:47 --> 00:13:51 Christ because no man or woman should trust themselves.

00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 Our hearts are deceptive.

00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 Our hearts are wicked.

00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 I heard a story of a man who was married.

00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 He had a beautiful wife and a new baby.

00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 But the man was a constant drinker.

00:14:04 --> 00:14:04 He was a drunk.

00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 But through his own efforts,

00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 he was able to stop drinking and put his life back together.

00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 He used to be chubby.

00:14:10 --> 00:14:11 He lost a lot of weight.

00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 He became better looking, more fit.

00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 But his heart deceived him.

00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 When he was a drunk,

00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 he looked at his wife and child and thought,

00:14:19 --> 00:14:24 I am so thankful I have them because I just don't deserve them.

00:14:24 --> 00:14:24 I'm a loser.

00:14:25 --> 00:14:26 Then he loses all the weight,

00:14:27 --> 00:14:28 gets his act together,

00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 and he becomes prideful.

00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 He looks at his situation and says, I did this.

00:14:33 --> 00:14:37 He looks at his beautiful new wife and their beautiful new baby,

00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 and he says to himself,

00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 I can do better than her.

00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 He decides he's not in love with her,

00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 asks for a divorce,

00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 leaves the wife,

00:14:45 --> 00:14:46 leaves the newborn baby,

00:14:47 --> 00:14:51 and goes off thinking that he is going to find what he's looking for.

00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 But in the end,

00:14:52 --> 00:14:57 he spirals out into depression and ends up back where he started.

00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 A family ruined,

00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 three lives shattered,

00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 and all he has to show for it is the bottle.

00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 Friends, no man can trust God and Himself at once.

00:15:08 --> 00:15:13 Your self-reliance must be destroyed or it will destroy you.

00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 We must wake up to the reality that there is a God who knows

00:15:18 --> 00:15:18 more than us.

00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 who has better plans for us,

00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 who has better ethics and morals than us,

00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 who loves us deeper than we have ever loved anyone else.

00:15:30 --> 00:15:30 Yes,

00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 we can find ourselves sleeping,

00:15:32 --> 00:15:36 but the awakener is in every Christian sleeper.

00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 if you have given your life to jesus at some point the holy

00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 spirit is with you and

00:15:43 --> 00:15:48 in you he desperately wants you to wake up to your need for the

00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 father for the son

00:15:50 --> 00:15:55 and for the spirit and it's so easy for us to ignore this need

00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 because we can go

00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 our own way

00:15:58 --> 00:16:02 We can ignore God's plan in favor of our own.

00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 We can think, I've got it figured out.

00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 I don't need God to tell me what to do.

00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 I've got this locked in.

00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 When we do this,

00:16:10 --> 00:16:14 we are as foolish and silly as the guy who brings a shovel to

00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 the Grand Canyon.

00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 The guy who has shown the beauty and the glory and the vastness

00:16:19 --> 00:16:20 and immenseness of

00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 the Grand Canyon,

00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 and he takes a quick look at it,

00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 bends down and digs a tiny hole in the ground and says,

00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 would you look at this hole?

00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 It's huge.

00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 It's beautiful.

00:16:31 --> 00:16:31 It's wonderful.

00:16:31 --> 00:16:32 It's beautiful.

00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 How foolish, how silly is that?

00:16:35 --> 00:16:35 And yet,

00:16:35 --> 00:16:40 isn't it what we do when we stand in the door of salvation and

00:16:40 --> 00:16:41 look out into the

00:16:41 --> 00:16:45 green pastures of the wide world of the kingdom of God and

00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 everything he has in

00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 store for us?

00:16:49 --> 00:16:53 And then we turn and start building our little sandcastles in

00:16:53 --> 00:16:53 the doorway.

00:16:54 --> 00:16:58 We try to build our own kingdoms here on earth instead of

00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 living for the beautiful,

00:17:00 --> 00:17:00 wondrous,

00:17:00 --> 00:17:04 glorious kingdom of God that is filled with what we need.

00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 Christ,

00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 His presence,

00:17:08 --> 00:17:09 His friendship,

00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 His glory,

00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 His love,

00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 His mercy,

00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 His justice.

00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 Listen,

00:17:16 --> 00:17:21 I know that the issues and problems and plans of your life seem

00:17:21 --> 00:17:21 big to you,

00:17:22 --> 00:17:27 but if your focus is on them and not on what Christ has set before you,

00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 I just want to encourage you,

00:17:28 --> 00:17:32 stop playing in the dirt and get up and look at the canyon.

00:17:33 --> 00:17:36 Don't live your life thinking all there is to it is grades and

00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 money and careers

00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 and video games and boyfriends and girlfriends and sports

00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 tournaments and work and

00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 status and success and growing up and getting the house and

00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 getting your kids into

00:17:46 --> 00:17:50 college and just the process repeats over and over and over again.

00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 That's not all there is to it.

00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 When we focus on our own little sandcastles,

00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 we're ignoring the Grand Canyon of God's kingdom.

00:17:59 --> 00:17:59 And what does scripture say?

00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 Does it say seek first the kingdom of God and just don't live

00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 your life and don't

00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 have dreams and don't have careers?

00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 No, it doesn't say that.

00:18:09 --> 00:18:13 It says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 which means right relationship.

00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of

00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 these things will be

00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 added unto you.

00:18:21 --> 00:18:21 Now,

00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 that doesn't mean that seeking first the kingdom of God

00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 guarantees you will get a

00:18:24 --> 00:18:28 car or a house or a boat or a perfect wife or husband or whatever.

00:18:29 --> 00:18:33 What it means is as you seek first the glorious goodness of

00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 God's kingdom,

00:18:34 --> 00:18:37 which is the greatest thing you could ever seek in this life,

00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 all of the other practical things of life that you need,

00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 God will provide.

00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 And that looks different for everybody, but He will provide.

00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 As you seek and follow Him,

00:18:48 --> 00:18:52 He will help you along the journey and give you everything you

00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 need to live for His

00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 kingdom fully.

00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 But we have to wake up.

00:18:58 --> 00:19:03 We have to wake up and realize the deadliness of sin.

00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 Far too often,

00:19:05 --> 00:19:09 the way that we view sin is like it's just this innocent little puppy.

00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 You come in the room,

00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 you see the puppy,

00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 it's chewing on the furniture,

00:19:13 --> 00:19:13 making a mess,

00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 nibbling on people,

00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 and you just think,

00:19:15 --> 00:19:15 oh,

00:19:15 --> 00:19:16 so cute,

00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 what a sweet little puppy.

00:19:18 --> 00:19:22 But the reality is, our sin is not a puppy, it's a rabid dog.

00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 We can see our sin as just harmless.

00:19:25 --> 00:19:31 It's a rabid dog out to kill, steal, and destroy our joy.

00:19:31 --> 00:19:35 It is something that both breaks God's law and his heart.

00:19:36 --> 00:19:39 And it's not because he's this stickler with a list of rules

00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 and he just really

00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 wants you to make sure you follow all of his rules exactly to the letter.

00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 It is because sin is poison.

00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 It is a part of a dark,

00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 destructive,

00:19:48 --> 00:19:53 ancient force out to corrupt and ruin all the good things that

00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 God has created.

00:19:56 --> 00:20:00 Sin is pleasurable for a time, but it leads to death.

00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 Did you hear that?

00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 It's not that death is maybe the outcome of sin.

00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 No, the Bible says it is the outcome of sin.

00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 When Adam and Eve tasted the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil,

00:20:11 --> 00:20:15 they were told this leads to death,

00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 both physical and spiritual.

00:20:18 --> 00:20:23 Paul in the book of Romans writes, but the wages of sin is death.

00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 If there is sin in your life,

00:20:26 --> 00:20:30 realize it is poison and desperately seek out the antidote,

00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 Jesus.

00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 Maybe you've come through a lot in your life.

00:20:34 --> 00:20:39 Maybe you've had seasons of sin and repentance and growth.

00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 Maybe you're listening to this podcast and if you've

00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 If you feel like this doesn't apply to you at all,

00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 thank you for listening this far.

00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 But I want to let you know,

00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 if you're sitting here thinking,

00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 I don't need this,

00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 listen,

00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 you're a target.

00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 A target for the enemy.

00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 The enemy wants you to be self-satisfied.

00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 He wants you to think you've got it all together.

00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 Like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son,

00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 he wants you to say,

00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 I listen to my father.

00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 I obey my father.

00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 I've got it together.

00:21:10 --> 00:21:14 When really the brother didn't realize that it was the sin of

00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 pride and envy that

00:21:15 --> 00:21:17 was chipping away at his own heart and soul.

00:21:18 --> 00:21:21 The enemy wants you to be self-satisfied.

00:21:21 --> 00:21:25 Jesus wants you to never be satisfied in yourself and always be

00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 satisfied in him.

00:21:27 --> 00:21:31 Jesus is the doctor who looks at your sin and sees it for the

00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 cancer that it is.

00:21:32 --> 00:21:35 Do you want your doctor to be satisfied with your cancer and say,

00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 oh,

00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 you know,

00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 your cancer's fine.

00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 It's not that bad.

00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 No,

00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 you want a doctor who looks at your cancer and says,

00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 we will not rest until this is removed,

00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 until this is gone,

00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 until you are healed.

00:21:48 --> 00:21:53 The truth and the reality to all of this is you have a God,

00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 you have a friend,

00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 you have a master,

00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 a Lord,

00:21:56 --> 00:22:02 a King in Jesus who knows your need and He wants to provide.

00:22:02 --> 00:22:07 He is the Father who brings home the dinner for the family.

00:22:08 --> 00:22:11 He is the Father who brings home the gifts for Christmas.

00:22:12 --> 00:22:16 He is the Father who loves to give you what you need.

00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 And I don't need to do some long ending to this episode.

00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 I just need to encourage you to stick out your hands and say,

00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 Jesus,

00:22:24 --> 00:22:25 I need you.

00:22:25 --> 00:22:28 Jesus, I desperately need you.

00:22:29 --> 00:22:33 I need you more than I've ever needed anyone or anything.

00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 Please give me you.

00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 Please pour yourself out onto me.

00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 Please speak to me.

00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 Please guide me.

00:22:38 --> 00:22:38 Please help me.

00:22:39 --> 00:22:39 Please convict me.

00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 I desperately need you in my life.

00:22:56 --> 00:23:02 This is a message that I am preaching because I need to hear it too,

00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 over and over again.

00:23:04 --> 00:23:09 It is so easy for me to forget my need for Christ and just grow

00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 comfortable and

00:23:10 --> 00:23:16 complacent and cozy and to be lulled to sleep by the apathy of

00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 a lack of knowing my

00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 own need.

00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 I think that might be you too.

00:23:23 --> 00:23:27 And so I invite you to reach out to Christ and tell him how

00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 much you need him.

Wake Up To Your Need For Christ - Resisting Apathy pt.5

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