Monday, February 1, 2010

Our Desire

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

I've heard this verse thrown around a lot over the years, and perhaps often even misused. I have heard other people take this verse to mean that if we love God he'll give us whatever we want. Almost like a vending machine, we give Him what He wants, and we'll get what we really want in retrun. I know this is most certainly not what this means, but I have always struggled to understand it's true meaning.
Recently when reading through Psalm 37 and reflecting on all God has done in my life over the past year or so this particular verse took on new meaning for me. I realized the more and more we truly delight in the LORD and trust Him our desires begin to change. If we are seeking the sovereign will of God in our lives, our hearts will be transformed. What he will give to us are things that only people living in His holiness and righteousness would desire. Even if these things come amidst pain and suffering we find joy in them. And look what it says next:

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

If we are committed to God then our righteousness is His righteousness, and our cause is His cause. Good stuff! Something to think about when following Christ gets difficult (as it commonly does). He will change our very desires by his mere presence in our lives!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Don't get too close....you might get burned!

A story:

A small group of friends and I were hanging out last night and attempting to to see what limit "strike-anywhere" matches hold true to the claim of their identity, which led us to a discussion about man's attraction to fire. What is it about a burning flame that piques our interest so easily and consistently? First, I suggested that fire is both beautiful and alluring. Next, a friend said something to the effect of, "Fire suddenly appears out of nowhere, and you try and grab it, but you can't...it just burns you." Immediately after he said this, a third friend exclaimed, "Just like a woman!" We then proceeded to verify just how true this is especially with my statement and the statement of my other friend combined. It should be noted for the sake of context that the majority of the people in this group have all recently had significant failures in male-female interaction. Women are great, don't get me wrong....but it was a hilarious joke. Sorry to everyone I just offended. Cheers!

Friday, January 22, 2010

It isn't easy being absolutely hilarious.

I generally consider myself to be a person with a good sense of humor. I only say this because this particular attribute of my personality is frequently affirmed by other people. I've been told I'm funny so I assume it's true....I mean I've even won awards for it. I recently had a friend tell that I am on her list of the top 5 funniest people she knows. I also have a friend who claims I made a comment to her that was "the funniest thing she had heard all year" (this was said in late of 2009 mind you). Heck, I've even won what many consider to be the most prestigious humor-related award there is....a tie for runner-up to Wittiest Boy in my high school graduating class. Well, maybe not the most prestigious award, but it did recognize the fact that according to popular opinion that me and another guy were equally not quite as funny as some other guy. But still....I guess that's worth some credit. But being a recognized as a partially high school-wide approved funnyman is not as easy as it seems. With great humor comes great responsibility.

For instance, on a number of occasions when I have made a humorous remark to an individual, after the guffaws die down, I have been met with unfortunate responses such as "Where did you get that?", or "What is that from?" Upon being met with this sort of response two conflicting thoughts often pop into my head. I could be insulted that this person thinks that what I have said is so hilarious that there is no way I could have made it up myself....or I could be flattered that the person thinks that what I've said is funny enough to have been used in a movie, tv show or some form of mainstream media. Which of these is the better frame of mind is something I don't have the answer to, but it should be known, I'm not a fan of using other people's material without giving them credit. Just ask those who are close to me that I have told to "cite your sources" when repeating something that I or anyone else has said. ;)

However, in the end all of this really doesn't matter. I love making people smile and laugh, and I am extremely thankful that God has granted me the ability to do so, for the most part, with relative ease. Being a jokester has it's risks and challenges, but in the end it's absolutely worth it.....and that's no joke. (Bet you didn't see that coming.)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Recording My Thoughts

Every so often over the last few years an idea has popped into my head, the idea that it would be really awesome if we were able to record our thoughts. Just think of the great ideas that we lose with the passing of time, or the influx of new information. How great would it be to able to literally relive all of our fondest memories? Pretty great, I think.

But unfortunately we can't do any of that.....so maybe this is the next best thing.

If you're wondering if I'm going to continually use my name as pun, like I did just now or in the title of the blog, the answer is a resounding yes....if you find this off-putting or a bit egotistical you will probably have no interest in reading anything else I post on this blog. I will likely use this blog to discuss a wide variety of subjects....so stay tuned, it may just be the best thing you read all day.