Books The Arts

Chapter 10: Good Times

Trillia Newbell10 views

“Our culture has fed us the lie that feeling good is the highest good.” – Trip Lee

Go and enjoy your life. Have sex. Party hard. Travel the world. Do all that you can and do it to the fullest. YOLO!! You only live once, guys! That’s the motto of the day. Do all you can and live-it up because you only live once. And those proclaiming YOLO are right. You only live once. So the question is what are you living for? Or better, who are you living for?

Trip shares that instead of God we worship pleasure. This is true even if we aren’t going out and partying. In my own life I can crave rest, peace, and quiet. It’s my desire for pleasure that can drive me to be angry or quick tempered or frustrated. But there’s something better. Trip again, “Instead of believing God and trusting Him to bring us joy, we try building our lives on whatever pleasure we can find down here.” But as David says in Psalm 63, God’s steadfast love is better than life.

Here are a few questions based on the rest of the chapter:

What are some things you find yourself taking pleasure in besides God? 2. Do you ever find yourself discouraged or even jealous as you watch the world partake in various activities? 3. How can we enjoy God’s gifts to us without idolizing them? 4. Do you believe there is an inheritance for you because of the gospel?

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1 comment

Avery December 12, 2013 - 7:23 pm
Interesting, and thought-provoking questions, Trillia. For this discussion, I'll primarily focus on question 2. As I've read Trip Lee's book multiple times, everytime I come away with something new.. After reading through chapter 10 recently, I realized that there is some part in my heart that wants to participate in activities that are contrary to The Lord's word. Sure, I have fun— but there's always a tendency to go "over" the limit.. As I deal with that, I'm constantly reminded of Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." In those times when I desire to participate in various activities, I am constantly reminded of David's plea to The Lord— a plea to renew the purity of the heart. Therefore, renewing the heart removes jealously. So, our commission is to constantly ask The Lord to "Renew" our heart, so, when those hidden jealously enter, we can bring it to a halt, with a simple plea: "Renew a right spirit in me."

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