Is this true?

How many relevant Bible verses come to mind when you hear a saying such as the following two statements I came up with today? (It’s interesting what goes through a head while trecking through the woods with a weed-whacker.)

How much fun you expect to have justifies nothing.

How much fun you had was entirely up to you.

Lastly, if you could add one more line to the saying, what would it be? If you don’t have any time to ponder, don’t worry, just check back and see if anyone else does. 🙂

10 Comments

  1. Allen P. October 16, 2010 at 7:41 pm #

    My third line is this:
    How much fun you had is independent of how much joy you received.

    I will have to get back to you on the verses… if I can think of any.

  2. The Martin Family October 17, 2010 at 4:46 pm #

    Justify ourselves in the sight of men
    Luke 16:15
    And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

    AND
    Justify others vs. keeping our integrity
    Job 27:5
    God forbid that I should justify you; till I die, I will not remove mine integrity from me.

    The Martins

  3. Esther October 19, 2010 at 4:49 pm #

    The verse that pops into my head reguarding the first line is from Proverbs:

    “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

    Temporal pleasure should not be our focus so don’t compromise what should be your focus (or justify something wrong)to do something that may distract from your focus.

  4. Denise October 19, 2010 at 5:25 pm #

    But I have to first ask what the definition of “fun” is. And then I have to question if one man’s idea of “fun” equals another man’s idea of “fun”? The entire idea of what “fun” is, is rather subjective is it not? My definition of “fun” is a pursuit of a hobby that gives me a sense of peace and has a meditative value, and makes me feel closer to God.
    Then we have to ask ourselves what “fun” is from a collective view of “men” and their definition. Is it peace? Is it giddy happiness? Is it folly? Is it a sense of hope? Is it laughter? Or is it a combination of so many things listed above? And can any of these be easily defined in scripture?
    I’m seriously confused as to how “justification” equals fun. So, in Luke 16:15, what?!!! God is a fun-hater? But if “fun” is in man’s heart, how can
    God suggest it is an abomination? And what exactly of integrity? Does scripture suggest that men of integrity have NO sense of fun? Those of us with integrity should be prohibited from having fun? “Fun” somehow devalues us as humans in
    God’s eyes? I’m not buying the argument.

    The feeling of “fun”, that emotion, IS given to us by God. And for some mortal men to suggest that the emotion of “fun” must somehow be cast aside is in opposition to what Jesus taught. The mind-set of the anti-fun sect might be best summed up by the poem by Dickenson (Emily, that is…):

    I many times thought peace had come
    When peace was far away.
    Like wrecked men deem they sight the land
    At the centre of the sea.
    And struggle slacker yet to prove
    As helplessly as I
    How many the ficticious shores
    Before the harbor lie.

    Peace,
    Denise

  5. Crystal October 19, 2010 at 5:46 pm #

    For the first statement, the first part of Proverbs 21:17 “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.” Though 1 John 2:15-17 also came to mind as well as verses warning about pleasing the flesh & the need to die to self.
    The second statement depends on your perspective of “fun”. Looking at it in the area of having a right attitude towards work, Colossians 3:23 comes to mind. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men”.
    Having fun should never be the determining factor in decision making.
    Esther, I like your statement & the verse you came up with.

  6. Daniel Staddon October 19, 2010 at 10:23 pm #

    Very thought-provoking Michael! Lots of verses from Ecclesiastes come to mind, such as the following:

    “Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these, for thou dost not inquire wisely conccerning this.”

    “A man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry, for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”

    I appreciate Esther’s comment, as well as Denise’s discussion of the definition of “fun.” My third phrase would be,

    “Fun is merely a byproduct of fulfilling God’s purposes for your life. Seek for fun and it will surely evade you.”

  7. Donald Staddon October 20, 2010 at 5:40 am #

    For the first one I remember “My soul waith thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him” (Psalm 62:5)
    For the second, I remember a friend who summarized a missions trip saying “You get out of it what you put into it”. I realized then how true that was and have been challenged by it ever since. II Corinthians 9:6: “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth boutifully shall reap also bountifully”!
    Thank you for the encouragement and exhortation Michael to look to Scripture in everyday types of things.

  8. Esther October 20, 2010 at 4:44 pm #

    Profound Daniel!

  9. Denise October 21, 2010 at 9:06 pm #

    I have to agree with Daniel’s conclusion that “fun” is merely a byproduct of fufilling God’s purposes for your life. And I want to point out that many times while fufilling God’s purposes we don’t see the fun, but after we’ve reached the summit, we can look back and say “wasn’t that fun?” As a parent of nearly grown children, I will confess that while my children were young, and needy, and awoke with ear infections at 2 AM every other week, I did not “see” parenthood as fun. But now that my babies are grown into adults and are thriving, I do look back, and my husband and I often speak of how fun it was to be parents to small children and how much we miss the fun of little guys.

  10. Michael December 21, 2011 at 2:43 pm #

    I preached a sermon on this topic soon after posting this, but never found a concise way to sum up my conclusions here. I suppose this will have to do.

    It’s certainly a good idea to start by clarifying and defining the terms used.

    It’s amazing how simple the statements seem, but when you stop to think about them, how quickly you realize that they are engulfed in so many other subjects: righteousness, faith, sin, basic needs, human motives and desires, human experiences, etc. And further, it is amazing to realize how much our perception of “fun” actually influences our day-to-day decisions.

    I would say the first statement is true and the second is misleading.

    Solomon the son of David, king in Jerusalem wrote extensively on the subject of “what is good for man?” in the book of Ecclesiastes. (Ecc. 2:3) I love this book. I love his conclusion. Take your focus off of “fun” or “enjoyment” and focus on Righteousness (Jeremiah 33:16) and see if you don’t get surprised by joy! Fun, Joy, Enjoyment – these are cheap goals, but wonderful byproducts of the right goal.

    “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13

    “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22

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