Groundhog Designs and Penguin Olympics
I love sports. I enjoy watching as a way to relax, but I am also captivated by the excitement, drama, and tension. Why do slam dunks, penalty kicks, buzzer beaters, hole-in-ones, and grand slams produce such a reaction in us?
As a Philadelphian, I probably get too emotionally invested in our professional teams and their championship wins or losses. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I have said, “This is our year” or “We just won the league!”
Paul Tripp is not a paid member of any sports team, but there’s something about sports that stirs our soul and makes us feel part of something bigger.
But it’s not just sports. We’ll flock to a museum to see paintings by a master artist. We’ll watch people walk down a red carpet so we can admire hand-beaded gowns. We’ll wait in line for an hour for the ultimate roller coaster that lasts less than a minute.
We’ll dream up and drool over an upcoming feast. We’re blown away by the hugeness of a mountain range and dazzled by a multihued sunset. We’re tempted to climb Everest, traverse the oceans in an all-too-small sailboat, or attempt a feat not yet accomplished by a fellow human.
It’s because we were created for glory. And because of our hardwiring, we’ll work like crazy to achieve moments of glory in some area of our lives.
While other creatures and elements of creation are glorious, God hardwired only human beings to quest for glory. Groundhogs don’t compete for who has made the most beautiful underground den. My brother Tedd uses this illustration: penguins don’t host an international Olympics and score one another as they dive off the ice into the frigid sea!
We were made for glory, but not the shadow glories of the created world. We were made for the one glory that is unparalleled—the glory of God.
In a fallen world, however, there is a powerful pressure to constrict your life to the shape and size of your life. There is a compelling tendency to forget who you are and what you were made for. There is a tendency to be shortsighted, myopic, and easily distracted. There is a tendency to settle for less when you have been created for more.
And when you lose sight of it, you have effectively denied your humanity.
How are you doing with the glory of God in your everyday life? Is it giving direction to everything you think, say, and do? What is the big vision that you’re working toward? What is the big dream you are investing in? What is your definition of the “good life”? When will you know that you have been successful? If you had it all, what would “all” look like?
I am afraid there are many people of faith who attend church each week, give regularly to God’s work, know their Bible pretty well, and don’t live overtly evil lives, but who aren’t living with the glory of God as the primary motivation of their life.
Now, what in the world does that mean for a typical Wednesday morning?
Living for the glory of God doesn’t mean abandoning your everyday life and pursuing something unrealistic. No, it’s about a whole new way of approaching the situations, locations, vocations, and relationships of your current everyday life.
God invites you to so much more! God’s grace invites you to be part of something far greater than your boldest and most expansive dream.
He calls us to live for a kingdom far greater than just our marriage, family, career, finances, hobbies, and passions. And where do we live for this greater kingdom? In our marriage, family, career, finances, hobbies, and passions!
His rescuing grace cuts a hole in our self-built glory prisons and invites us to step out into the glory of his kingdom in our everyday lives.
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
A Prayer for Today: God, by your grace, I want to invite you to cut a hole in my self-built glory prison so that I might step out into the glory of your kingdom in my everyday life. I struggle in many areas of my life, and I need you to help me live for your glory and kingdom in all that I do, say, and give. Make me the kind of person you want me to be, Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Discussion Prompt for Children
1. Why do you think almost everyone thinks about themselves first and other people second? When have you seen me doing that? When was the last time you did that?
2. In what ways do you think we can ask God to help us live a life that puts him first?
3. How do you think we can put God first in our family? With our friends? With your schoolwork? With my schedule each day? With our activities together?
Reflection Questions
1. If you were honest, how would you say you are currently pursuing your own glory in the situations, locations, vocations, and relationships of your current everyday life? Take some time to think it through and jot a few things down that come to mind.
2. In what ways has the pursuit of your own glory weighed you down and made you exhausted?
3. How can the radical grace of God begin to transform you and your life so that you say “yes” as he invites you to be part of something far greater than your boldest and most expansive dream? What are some practical areas where this might play out in your life?
4. Who can you ask to keep you accountable as you proactively make decisions with God’s glory as your motivation?