I have been so hungry lately. Hungry for the word of God, that is. Psalm 119:103 comes to mind, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” God has been revealing so many truths to me in a way that I can understand, I feel the need to share some of the things that He has been impressing upon my heart. I shared on my IG feed how the popular Sunday school song, I Keep Falling in Love with Him, holds true for me now more than ever. The more I feed on His Word, the more I fall in love with Him.

I’m planning to read the Bible on my own from beginning to end, without the pressure of having to finish it in a year. I’ve also been listening to sermons by well-known theologians and preachers such as John Piper and Tim Keller. In the process of searching for their sermons, I happened to stumble upon a few of Francis Chan’s sermons. I have to admit, I had never heard of him before. I now know that he is a well-known preacher who used to lead a megachurch in Simi Valley, CA called Cornerstone Community Church. At the height of his career, he decided to leave his church because he felt he was becoming a hindrance to the spiritual growth of its members as they were depending too much on him and not enough on the Holy Spirit. From the little I know of him, I get the impression that he is a man who practices what he preaches. Several of his sermons have touched a chord in my heart, but there were two short videos, probably already known to many, that really convicted me and compelled me to re-evaluate my outlook on life.

These may be the most meaningful 10 minutes of your time this week, this month, or this year, for that matter.

In this first Rope Illustration, Francis Chan uses a very long rope as an analogy for the timeline of our existence. Our time here on earth is represented by small 3-inch colored portion of the rope. This illustration made me think of how fleeting our time here on earth is. It made me take a hard and serious look at how I want to use my life. Do I want to use my time and energy to invest in fleeting rewards here on earth, or do I want to spend them to store treasures in the eternal kingdom? Psalm 39:4 echoes my desire to be reminded of this truth daily, “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.”

In the Balance Beam illustration, Francis challenges us to step outside of our comfort zone and to live a life that is worthy of God’s calling. When my time here on earth is up and I find myself standing before our Creator and Judge, will I be able to look Him in the face and honestly say that I did my best for Him. Do I want to continue on living my safe, self-serving comfortable life or do I want to surrender myself to God and not be afraid to go wherever He leads me, even if there will be hardship and suffering?

It made me think of the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The servants, who doubled the number of talents that their master gave them, took risks and used what they had to add to their master’s riches. The one who hid the talent in the ground played it safe and ended up producing nothing for his master. This video challenged me to start taking risks for God because I know that He will always be there to pick me up when I fall. And the blessings that come from serving Him wholeheartedly are beyond what we can imagine. We are reminded of this in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Have a blessed rest of the week!

Linking up with these lovelies: Words with Winter | Word Filled Wednesday | A Little R & R | Coffee and Conversation | Thursday Favorite Things | SHINE | Thought Provoking Thursday | Thriving Thursday | Cozy Reading Spot | Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me  | Fellowship Fridays | Faith Filled Friday | Faith & Fellowship | Grace & Truth