A Quest for More

I've been reading a fabulously challenging book by Paul David Tripp. Here's an excerpt:

"We are all capable of fighting for what has little value while forgetting things of transcendent value.
In a flash of irritation, a mom will treat the condition of her son's bedroom as being more valuable than the community she is to have with her son, which is so essential to what God wants to do for this boy through her. After months of frustration, a believer will get into a heated argument over garden boundaries with his neighbor, forgetting how much more important it is to be salt and light in the man's life than how many flowers were planted over the property line. For a moment, a man will get more of a sense of well-being from the look and smell of his brand new car than he does from the condition of his heart. For a season, the affection and appreciation of another human being will become more functionally important to us than the gracious, forgiving, and adopting love of our heavenly Father. For a moment, a succulent steak becomes more important to us than a soul that has been satisfied by the Living Bread. In the flash of one look, the beauty and shape of a woman's body can become more important than the long-term marital community and a heart that is pure. And in a car on a given night, being right in the eyes of your spouse can become more important than living right before your Lord."

Wow. We live in a much smaller world than what God created us for, a world centered around ourselves. I'm so convicted.