I don’t know why, but this week I received an advance copy of Growing with Purpose, a series of 100 word devotionals that Zondervan will sell for $18.99. And since the author is a friend and collaborator with Rick Warren, it will do very very well. If you were inspired by The Purpose-Driven Life, you’re going to love the bite-sized wisdom in this book: “It’s the ‘Wow!’ Not the How,” “consider everyone an E.I.P. (Eternally Important Person),” and my favorite, “Each of us carries a bucket that needs to be filled with love….” I have been begging for years for someone to fill my leaky love bucket, and it’s nice to know that I’m not alone.
Given my interest in chapter 6 of The Purpose-Driven Life, I noticed the devotional entitled “Look Upon the Things Above,” which said “Let’s assume there is a long, thin line threaded across reality…this imaginary line divides what we can see from what we cannot see—the temporary from the eternal. …With our minds set on the things above, we live in the truth that there is more to reality than the things right in front of us. We live in the truth that people are eternal beings….”
I had assumed that only God is eternal, but thankful for the upgrade, I kept reading. Ten pages later I read this: “Imagine if God created you to be the Michelangelo of this age, but you stayed so busy doing all kinds of things—good things—that you never got around to painting and sculpting. You would end up missing the best because you got distracted chasing the good. What a disappointment it would be for God, you, and all the people who would have been blessed if you had stayed focused on your original purpose!”
Rather than call his hypothetical Michelangelo a disappointment, shouldn’t the author congratulate him for not becoming distracted by earthly things like “painting and sculpture”? When you give your heart to Jesus but your mind to Plato, neither your Bible nor your life are going to make much sense.
//
Mike Wittmer 
Leave a Reply