Jackson Browne sang a song in the 70s titled, "The Pretender." Essentially, the words described a person caught between the longing for love and the struggle for the "legal tender." That's a person who gets up, goes through a daily routine, and goes to bed to get up and do it again-the pretender! In other words, his poignant song summarized our lives as a daily repeat of "the same old, same old ..."
Have you ever felt like the man who dug a hole one day, filled the hole the next day, dug the hole the following day, and then filled the hole again? Have you ever felt that you were spending most of your time going through meaningless motions? Feel like you are living one, busy, boring routine?
If you are a father …
If you are a father, your life probably begins before the crack of dawn. You shower, shave, gulp down a cup of coffee, and off to work you run. You work hard all day: meeting with people, planning, making decisions, solving problems, and desperately seeking to make a profit. If your work is more labor-intensive, you spend most of your day pushing your body to the limit ... pulling, lifting, and pounding. By five o'clock you are beat.
On the way home, you dream about sitting in your favorite chair, your children bringing you your slippers, your wife serving you a refreshing beverage, and the dog promptly fetching you the paper, while you relax for a few minutes, and then take a nap. Unfortunately, your dream is destroyed by stark reality. When you enter the house, your wife and kids, who also had a busy day, need your full, energetic attention. From dinnertime to bedtime you are on full-time "daddy duty." Just before you retire for bed, you finally relax as you begin to flip through the TV channels. What a day, and just think, you get to do this again tomorrow! Sound familiar?
If you are a mother …
Maybe you are a mother, who wakes up early in the morning to the pitter-patter of little and big feet! Making breakfast, brewing coffee, changing diapers, dressing kids for school, packing lunches, and chauffeuring children to their activities take up most of your morning. If you aren't working outside of the home, you spend the rest of your day picking up after kids, doing laundry, and making meals. If you work a full-time job in addition to motherhood, you dash off to work once all of the children are cared for. At work you use your mental, emotional, and physical energy all day long.By six o'clock, you are back home and still "on duty" with family responsibilities. In a short time, you are helping kids with homework, giving baths, putting children in pajamas, sharing hugs and kisses, and sending kids to bed. By this time, you are ready to collapse on the couch! You watch your husband flip through every channel on TV, and then you go to bed. If you have little ones, you may be getting up once or twice during the night for feedings or comfort. Guess what? The exciting thing is that tomorrow, you get to do the routine all over! Have you lived this life?
Perhaps, you are a successful married couple with children, and your life could be described like this: last year you redecorated your home; you spent a fortune buying your kids new school clothes-big name fashions, tennis shoes, jeans, and accessories. Maybe, you've recently purchased or leased a brand new, loaded luxury car or sport utility. Soon it will be another year, and guess what? Your house will need to be updated. Your kids will need "cooler" clothes, and your totally awesome car will be last year's model. So what do you do? You get ready to do it all again: ready to do "the same old, same old."
What’s it all about?
Is this what life is all about? Is life just an existence of keeping up? Of replacing, and maintaining? Is life the collection of years of routine, so eventually you can die? Have you ever felt as if you need to "get a life"?Where is the zip in life? Where is the fizz? Where is the spark? Where is the pep in your step? Where is the sense of adventure that makes you want to get out of bed and say, "This is another great day to enjoy, to be creative, to be fulfilled, to help someone, to love people, to live life!" Perhaps you wonder, "Are there really people who feel like that?" The answer is, "Absolutely!" Life with purpose, meaning, fulfillment and adventure is possible! Life doesn't have to be "the same old, same old" every day!
Jesus Christ came to demolish "the same old, same old" type of life. He said, "I have come that they (you) might have life, and that they (you) might have it more abundantly." He will give you this kind of life if you will exchange your life for the kind of life He offers.
By simply receiving Jesus Christ into your life, you will receive life filled with so much more than "the same old, same old." This is the kind of life that God desires us to live ... this life is not boring, but full of adventure, fulfillment, and purpose. Invite Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life and begin the adventure of really living! You can receive Jesus into your life by saying something like this from your heart to God:
"Dear God, I am so tired of living this busy, meaningless, empty life of 'the same old, same old.' I need You in my life. I admit my need for Your kind of LIFE. Jesus, I ask You to come into my heart and give me the abundant life You talk about. I receive You, Lord, and all that You have for my life. In Jesus Name. Amen."
To help you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ, we encourage you to begin reading the Bible. We also encourage you to begin praying, by simply talking to God from your heart. Finally, we recommend that you begin attending a Bible-believing church.
If you'd like to do a more personal study on this topic, check out my book, "Getting a Grip on the Basics" to help you grow in your faith.
Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.
