Former Blackout Artist

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. – Colossians 3:2

It doesn’t happen often, thankfully. But sometimes there’s a voice inside my head giving me some bad advice.

That voice paid me a visit last week, right about the same time that my “shift” key on my old MacBook laptop started giving me problems. “How much longer are you gonna put up with this old relic anyway? It loses connection, it takes forever to load a page, the keys are starting to malfunction…”

Normally I’m pretty good about ignoring that voice. As they say, “Move a muscle, change a thought.” But this wasn’t one of those times. That voice just wouldn’t shut up. “When was the last time you treated yourself to something nice? You deserve this. But more than that – you need this.”

I listened to the voice. I gave in and ordered a new computer online from Apple. And the very next day I was at the local Apple Store waiting to pick it up.

Have you been inside an Apple Store lately? It had been years for me. This place is like walking into the next century! So many nice gadgets. They even have these new iPhones that don’t come with cracked screens like mine has, and the volume works. And the computers – just about any color you want, personalized, all the features you can imagine, crystal clear images, nicer speakers, high-tech cameras…

Do you ever play that “If I were to win the lottery” game? That’s what I did while waiting for the store clerk to bring me my purchase. I would get that, and that, and definitely that, and I’ll take two of those…

Now, I’m not at all suggesting that there’s anything wrong with wanting nicer things. But I literally let my mind drift, and for those few minutes – this was the only life that mattered. Paul would tell me that I had set my mind on earthly things, not things above.

I love something C.S. Lewis observed in his book, The Joyful Christian. He writes:

“Aim at heaven, and you will get Earth thrown in; aim at Earth and you will get neither.”

The things of this world really catch our eye, don’t they? But do they truly satisfy us? Maybe for the moment, but then what? Eventually this new computer I’m typing from will get old and slow like the older one I had.

And now – there’s another voice! But He’s not telling me what I deserve or what I need, but reminding me of what I already have. He’s gently whispering, “The time is coming soon when you too will be old and malfunctioning and all of this stuff will be meaningless to you. Besides, what are you pursuing now that you don’t already have in Me? And “upgrades”? You seriously want to talk about “upgrades”? Wait until you see this room I have prepared for you at My Father’s House!” 

The tragedy isn’t that people aim too high and miss. The tragedy is that they aim too low and succeed.