The benefit of practicing is you become better.
The benefit of studying is you become smarter.
The benefit of exercise is you become healthier.
The list could go on for quite a while….

But what’s the benefit of Pursuing Christ and developing integrity in our lives? I think we could come up with a lengthy list of all the possible benefits, but there is one that stands out above the rest…

Matthew 25:34 “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

The benefit of a life spent pursuing Christ, is you get to spend eternity with him.

That shouldn’t be a hard concept for us to accept. We all act a little bit like those who we are around the most. We act a little bit like our parents, talk a little bit like our friends, and reflect those we spend the most time with. Whether we are aware of it at the time or not, we know looking back that we become like those who we are with frequently.

This principle could greatly transform your character. Because you understand that it’s simple: If I want to be more like Christ, then I must spend more time with him. I’ve got to learn more about him, how he responds, what he does, and what he’s like. Then slowly but surely, I’ll become more like him.

So who are you becoming more like?

Who it’s for: Apple Enthusiasts, Techies, and anyone who’s interested in a very compelling (and very long) story of someone who achieved remarkable things.

My Highlights:

• The juice goes out of Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like Jesus or seeing the world as he saw it.
• Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are.
• You should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and a company that will last.
• Good artists copy, great artists steal. We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.
• You did the impossible, because you didn’t realize it was impossible.
• In the first 30 years of your life, you make your habits. For the last 30 years of your life, your habits make you.
• We at Apple had forgotten who we were. One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are.
• (When Yo-Yo Ma played his cello in Jobs’ living room) “You playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.”
• Some people say “Give the customers what they want.” But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A fast horse!” People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.

I loved the book. In it I saw the power of being simple and focused in everything you do. His journey is incredible, he’s kind of crazy, and he swears a ton.

I fear for many of us that we missed the “On Your Mark”, and the “get set”. We heard someone yell Go so we just took off running. So we push & we run & we try hard & we do everything we can to win a race, that we don’t exactly know where it ends, how to get there, or if we were really honest with ourselves, why we were running this race to begin with.

In Hebrews 12:1-2 it says this “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”

The finish line- Jesus.
How do we get there- Jesus.
Why are we running this race to begin with- Jesus.

We hope for a lot of things. That our job will get better; that we won’t get sick; or that we’ll get healthy again. We hope our kids will turn out okay, we hope that we’ll do well on the next project/test/report/etc.

We hope on all of these things. Wishing, dreaming, hoping that life will get better. And that’s usually what we think hope is, a future wish.

But in the New Testament hope was completely different. People were sick, or in prison, or beaten, or separated from their families, and they had hope. But their hope was never about, “I wish life will get better.” No, every time they expressed hope it always came out like this, “Because Christ died, I can have hope.”

They knew life would get better. They knew they could hold out for the best. Why? Because they grave had already been defeated and death had already been overcome.

Our hope is not based on a future wish, but a past truth.

2) Electric Fence. Not an actual collar to put on your spouse, but an invisible boundary that you know you won’t cross, and even if you do cross it that boundary is set far enough in the safe zone that no damage to your relationship is done. The electric fence doesn’t seem necessary if you have your compass out. The issue, is that sometimes it’s easy to quit pursuing your partner. So easy that you might do it without realizing it. That’s where you need the invisible boundary, to prevent you from falling.

Just about everybody believes monogamy is essential for a healthy marriage. Yet we find it isn’t often practiced. Don’t be another statistic of a marriage that fails: Be in pursuit, and set up a boundary.

And then about a month passes and come to check in on me to see the progress that I’m making. You figure I’ve already gotten better at some stuff, I’m definitely in better shape, and you’re excited to see what steps I’ve made. You then walk into my house where I am laying on my couch, 2 liter in one hand, crusted remnants of a ho-ho in the other hand, while I am sound asleep.

I wake up from the sound of the door opening and see you standing there so you ask, “So how’s becoming a professional athlete going?” You can obviously tell at the present moment that it is not going well, but you’re curious so you ask anyway. I then tell you how I haven’t really gotten started yet, I’ve spent the majority of my time resting to get ready.

Now my question is this: Are you going to think I’m serious about becoming who I want to be? Of course you won’t. Because if I want to become that kind of a person I’ve got to act, work, and behave in a way that will get me there.

Many people say they want to grow in their relationship with God. They want a deeper character and to become more Christ-like. Yet they never engage in the actions that will cause them to achieve that.

One of the easiest is with our finances. In Luke 12:34 it says “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Now here’s the really tricky thing: If you want to become someone who is invested in God’s kingdom, your must actually INVEST in God’s kingdom. We can find out the majority of what type of person you are by looking at your checkbook or credit card statement.

So what do they say about you? Are you planning to be great?

1. The Rule Keepers: Those who will always follow authority no matter what is going on. It doesn’t matter if they agree or disagree their view is “I’ll do what I’m told.”
2. The Rule Breakers: Those whose tendency is to push back no matter what’s going on or what it’s about if they disagree with decisions that are made.

Now obviously you don’t fall into one category all the time. But in any environment your response to authority will have a tendency to lean towards one or the other.

But a third way may be more beneficial: the way of honor.

Honor means giving someone respect regardless. Regardless of what? Regardless of anything else. It means you give respect just because.

It’s hard to define what honor looks like because it will change in every situation, but I think we all know what dishonor looks like.

Honor allows you to disagree with authority without tearing the other person apart. It allows you to maintain your opinion and disagreements while still being able to follow.

The best part about it is that honor has nothing to do with the other person. It’s our choice, and it shows people what kind of person we are.

My wife thinks the last two minutes of a basketball game go on forever, while I wish they would go on forever. She could spend hours in Wal-Mart, I would never know because I feel like as soon as I’m there that time stands still. What one person views as forever to another could only feel like a few seconds depending on what you’re doing.

Yet time passes the same for each one of us. A second is a second, no matter what you’re doing. It may feel like longer, but it’s still just a second. And everyday has 86,400 of them (seconds that is). We usually call it 24 hours to make it easier. But we each get the same amount.

What if you viewed each second as an opportunity? That in every second you had a chance to make an impact, to make a difference, to do something significant.

If you only had one, or even a few left I’m sure you’d view it that way. It’s easy for seconds to feel important when we know they’re limited. But we don’t view them as important because we think they’ll go on forever and whatever we didn’t do today we can do tomorrow.

But that’s not how it works. Each second is an opportunity, and when it’s gone, often so is your opportunity.

But what if you can’t fix it. Because that’s what we do, we solve problems. Things that are issues, we make sure they’re not issues any more. But when you solve this one, you actually hurt yourself.

Not everything is a problem to be solved, some things are tensions must be managed. If you solve a tension you lose. If all your time goes to work then your family walks out on you; but if all your time goes to your family, how will you eat?

Not everything is right or wrong moral issue. This is where wisdom comes in. Wisdom is all about learning and understanding how to correctly manage the tensions in our lives.

So what’s your greatest tension?