The other morning as I “ran” on the elliptical, I listened to “Don’t Waste Your Life – Sermon Jams.” Sermon jams are clips from sermons of our States-side pastor (John Piper) that are put to a beat. They’re not for everyone, but I think they’re great.
One of the jams is called “Treasuring Him.” It starts out like this:
“How does Paul make Christ look great? Answer? By experiencing Christ as such a treasure that everything else in his life is as NOTHING by comparison. I count EVERYTHING: money – as loss, food – as loss, looks – as loss, friends – as loss, family – as loss, job and success – as loss, graduation – as loss…in comparison with the treasure that Christ has become to me.”
It made me think about things I value – big and small – that I have especially been missing lately here in Zambia. So, here is my abbreviated list of things that Jesus is better than…
- Family (husband, parents, grandparents, nieces and nephews…)
- Church
- Friends
- Small Group
- Convenience
- Coffee
- Chocolate
- Hint-of-Lime Tortilla Chips and Salsa
- Black Beans
- Cheesecake
- Music
- Parks
- Nelson’s Ice Cream in Stillwater
- Knitting
- Reading
- Fast, Unlimited Internet
- Discount Shopping
- Etc…
Of course, Jesus is better than EVERYTHING, including life itself. I find that I often don’t live like Jesus is better than all those things I listed. But it’s good for me to make a list – to help me remember that Jesus IS better than all those things and to help me pray that I would live in such a way that Jesus would LOOK better than all those things.
Derek and Kristin Dearth 