but in the end it leads to death."

"If grace addresses the moral results of the Fall (our rebellion and inabality) then truth addresses the noetic effects of the Fall, sin's impact on how we think about life and interpret it."

No one had to teach us to steal, lie, and try to weasel our way out of the consequences of our sin.  That comes natural.  But God teaches us how to love.  We must learn to do what is right.

been taught by God to love one another"

Let us be intentional about learning God's way of living.  Forsake what we think is best and dive headlong into the truth of Jesus.

Let us take up our cross daily and FOLLOW HIM.  It's funny that we should follow the image of a man carrying His cross up a hill in order to die.  It's funny because that is where we are told we find life.  The great irony of life.  Just as Jesus said in Matthew 10:39, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This does not appear right in our eyes.  But as we read in Proverbs, that which appears right, leads to death.

Choose Christ, that you might live!!

Profit.  Now there's a word that rings in our ears like we've found an old friend.  Like a gift we were not expecting.  A satisfaction of working hard and seeing the results we were hoping for.  Or better yet, more than we were hoping for.  The Bible is asking about the profit of a man.  What is the profit of our lives?

Dave Dravecky was a major league baseball pitcher for the Padres and Giants.  In 1983 he helped the Padres win the pennant.  In 1987 he was traded to the San Francisco Giants as they made a push for the playoffs.  They made it to the World Series but eventually would lose to the St Louis Cardinals.  Following that season a cancer was found in his pitching arm.  Surgery was required and the humorous bone was frozen in order to prevent further cancer from spreading.  Amazingly Dravecky was back pitching in the minors in July 1989, less than a year after cancer surgery.  He pitched well in first outing back but in his second game he felt tingling in his arm.  In the sixth inning Dravecky wound up and threw a pitch.  His humorous bone snapped and Dave fell to the ground.  He was out for the season.  The Giants made it to the playoffs and defeated the Cubs (who hasn't!) to win the NLCS.  In the celebration Dave's arm was broken again.  This is when they found that the cancer had returned.  He was out for good.  Dave Dravecky retired.  After two surgeries the only option was amputation.  Today Dave and his wife run a ministry for those who are sick, hurting, and in need of hope.  The non profit is called Endurance.  (www.endurance.org)

I remember reading about his life in his book Comeback.  Such an inspirational story of a man who seemed to be living the dream that so many people on wish they could come close to.  He had it all and the world seemed to be at his fingertips.  He was a major league baseball player.  Then one day, it was all gone.  The profit of Dave and Jan Dravecky's lives was not their money, fame, or achievements but their life lived for God.

Let's not get caught up in gaining things for ourselves but instead focus on the life that God has called us to live.  One of worship to Him and service to each other.

Philippians 1:21 - "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

In Late Latin there was the word follis. It meant "large inflated ball," "windbag," or "airhead." This is where we get our word "FOOL" and "folly"

In Greek the word is aphrōn, and means "mindless" or "foolish."

Read Luke 21:16-21 here

Chick-Fil-A has created a model for their business that is amazing. It's about getting quality people doing quality work for a purpose more than money. Someone who works at the HQ recently shared with me that there is a difference between being Excellent and being Successful. Successful can be measured by more money, more employees, and more locations opening. This is subjective. What is successful? Is it grossing 100 million dollars? $1 billion? The nearly $4 billion they will gross this next year? How many employees do you need to be successful? 1? 100? 1000? Success is measured by the moving standard of whoever is leading in that category versus the average. Excellence on the other hand is measured differently. Did you do the absolute best you could have done? Was the service friendly and more than expected? Did the quality exceed expectations? It isn't measured purely by numbers but by effort, quality of performance, and surpassing expectations. There is more than the bottom line.

The man in the parable was very successful. He had more than he could ever handle. His solution was simple. Collect more for me so that I can do what I want to do and I will create my happiness because I worked hard and I planned well and I provided for me.

The man's problem was not that he had much. His problem was that he thought only of himself. He was not helping others but hording for personal cushion, not just comfort. He thought he was his own provider. The moment he thought that everything he needed came from himself, God took away the one thing that was foundational to the man's life. The life itself.

It's like putting rings on our fingers. We can boast and brag and buy gold and diamonds and rubies. We can wear tungsten, titanium, gold, and platinum. We can wear high school, college, post grad class rings but without fingers all of our purchases are useless.

God provides the one thing we can't. LIFE And that life is only worth giving back to Him to be used by Him and for Him.

Psalm 53:1 - The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.