Reaching for the Stars
The Tower of Babel
"The whole world had one language with a common vocabulary. As people moved toward the east, they found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia] and settled there.
They said to one another, “Let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks as stones and tar as mortar.
Then they said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered all over the face of the earth.” Genesis 11:1-4
Famous
Man's wants have always been fame, pleasure, power and money, sometimes not in that order.
Fame, being famous and making a name for oneself is a very common goal among many, and often on the top of their wishlist.
Through the ages countless people have longed to make a name for themselves. By any means they come to Broadway or Hollywood or any other major city or destination hoping someday to see their names in bright lights.
Man's Agenda vs God's
Man has his own plans but if they do not align with the One who designed and created them, then it is like building their own Tower of Babel -- they will not happen.
David's psalm tells us to delight ourselves in the LORD, and He will give us the desires of our hearts.
Heart's Desire
People have often misinterpreted that to mean that God will give them what they want when they follow (delight in) Him. Well yes He will. But the overlooked part that is missing is that when you delight in Him, He will change your heart (changjng you from the inside out), which will then change your heart's desires.
Your heart will align with God's heart and your desires will then align with His. And yes, He will give them to you.
Personal Agenda
Your personal agenda, when it is not aligned with God's will, will then be a Tower of Babel -- gone before the very last bricks are laid on top of another or before you reach the very top. And this is for your own good, believe it or not.
Otherwise your self made fame will go to your head, making it swell and bigger than everything else you've owned and it will end up owning you -- your very ego.
And sad to say, we have far too many examples of "famous" people like that throughout history.
John Lennon 1966,
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me."
In 1966, John and the Beatles had their last concert, after he said these words. The Beatles soon went their separate ways and John was later shot and killed in 1980. He is right on one thing though. There are many professing Christians who instead of following Jesus, follow their own agenda -- thick as they are sometimes called. And this indeed is a turn off for those who are looking to find fault in them and looking for a reason not to follow Christ.
"The whole world had one language with a common vocabulary. As people moved toward the east, they found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia] and settled there.
They said to one another, “Let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks as stones and tar as mortar.
Then they said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered all over the face of the earth.” Genesis 11:1-4
Famous
Man's wants have always been fame, pleasure, power and money, sometimes not in that order.
Fame, being famous and making a name for oneself is a very common goal among many, and often on the top of their wishlist.
Through the ages countless people have longed to make a name for themselves. By any means they come to Broadway or Hollywood or any other major city or destination hoping someday to see their names in bright lights.
Man's Agenda vs God's
Man has his own plans but if they do not align with the One who designed and created them, then it is like building their own Tower of Babel -- they will not happen.
David's psalm tells us to delight ourselves in the LORD, and He will give us the desires of our hearts.
Heart's Desire
People have often misinterpreted that to mean that God will give them what they want when they follow (delight in) Him. Well yes He will. But the overlooked part that is missing is that when you delight in Him, He will change your heart (changjng you from the inside out), which will then change your heart's desires.
Your heart will align with God's heart and your desires will then align with His. And yes, He will give them to you.
Personal Agenda
Your personal agenda, when it is not aligned with God's will, will then be a Tower of Babel -- gone before the very last bricks are laid on top of another or before you reach the very top. And this is for your own good, believe it or not.
Otherwise your self made fame will go to your head, making it swell and bigger than everything else you've owned and it will end up owning you -- your very ego.
And sad to say, we have far too many examples of "famous" people like that throughout history.
John Lennon 1966,
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me."
In 1966, John and the Beatles had their last concert, after he said these words. The Beatles soon went their separate ways and John was later shot and killed in 1980. He is right on one thing though. There are many professing Christians who instead of following Jesus, follow their own agenda -- thick as they are sometimes called. And this indeed is a turn off for those who are looking to find fault in them and looking for a reason not to follow Christ.
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