1 Timothy 6:9 – Building Futility
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction… 1 Timothy 6:9
T.S. Eliot resigns in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, “For I have known them all already, known them all— Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”
At the other end of life, the poet's narrator has bowed before the reality to which the apostle Paul is pointing young Timothy, that the incremental material pursuits to which we give ourselves, even those as simple as a cup of coffee, these become by degrees the purpose of our lives. Annie Dillard put it more directly when she insisted, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
Blessed, then, is the wide-angle correcting perspective of the Word of God. Blessed, then, are loving, intrusive people like Paul in our lives who will give us the benefit of their experience, of shipwrecked lives they have seen, and remind us how we spend ourselves and our days little by little. What we are building is very often destined for destruction. What we are building is very often no more durable than the latest caffeine hit.
Or, we can use these moments, these cups of coffee, for larger purpose. They can provide context and texture for our time with God. They can provide a shared experience with others wherein we can glorify Him together. The coffee will come, and the coffee will go, but the fruits of the godly gained therein will remain. Christ promised it so.
T.S. Eliot resigns in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, “For I have known them all already, known them all— Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”
At the other end of life, the poet's narrator has bowed before the reality to which the apostle Paul is pointing young Timothy, that the incremental material pursuits to which we give ourselves, even those as simple as a cup of coffee, these become by degrees the purpose of our lives. Annie Dillard put it more directly when she insisted, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
Blessed, then, is the wide-angle correcting perspective of the Word of God. Blessed, then, are loving, intrusive people like Paul in our lives who will give us the benefit of their experience, of shipwrecked lives they have seen, and remind us how we spend ourselves and our days little by little. What we are building is very often destined for destruction. What we are building is very often no more durable than the latest caffeine hit.
Or, we can use these moments, these cups of coffee, for larger purpose. They can provide context and texture for our time with God. They can provide a shared experience with others wherein we can glorify Him together. The coffee will come, and the coffee will go, but the fruits of the godly gained therein will remain. Christ promised it so.
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