A commercial for the Super Bowl cost advertisers $6-7 million dollars for a 30 second spot. This does not include the actors’ fees or production costs of the ad.
Why would a company be willing to spend so much money for just 30 seconds of your time? Simply put, marketing specialists know how to appeal to our basic instincts – the need to be liked, loved, respected, wanted. In that ½ minute, their goal is to capture our attention and convince us we need whatever they are selling so that our basic needs of belonging and acceptance are met.
Sadly, they are striving to fill our need for love, purpose, happiness, and joy with things that are incapable of fulfilling those needs. Eat this and you will satisfy that craving. Wear this and you will look like the fashion model every one loves, do this and your friends and family will look at you with envy.
I used to love Boston creme donuts. You know, the ones with the custard center and chocolate icing on top? One day I was craving one, so I stopped at the donut store near our home. I took my first bite. No custard. I took my second bite. There it was – just a touch of custard teasing me into my next bite. I took the third bite expecting the mother load. But it wasn’t there. At least not the way I remembered it. As I finished the donut, I realized not only was my craving not satisfied, I was left feeling disappointed by the experience.
Commercials, billboard advertisements, newspaper and magazine ads do the same thing. They build up our anticipation and expectations, yet we are often left feeling disappointed and let down when the product fails to change our life. False advertising strikes again. Many of the ads lead us down the path of selfishness, immorality, addiction, anger, and malicious behavior to name just a few as we try, try, and try again to satisfy the flesh.
When is the last time you saw an ad or commercial promoting love, family values, forgiveness? Our television shows no longer provide good role models and instead leave us feeling that affairs, lying, cussing, promiscuity, and divorce are all normal events in one’s life.
So when we hear that God as the gardener and Christ as the vine, want to prune us so we can bear more fruit, our defenses go up. Many of us want to limit the pruning to those things that have stood in the way of fame, fortune, and early retirement! We see it as losing something, or having something taken away from us much the same as when we were little and our parents took away a toy or privilege from us. We believe if God prunes us, the joy and happiness in our lives will be gone. But was it ever really there?
Have you ever seen a Bonsai tree before it has been pruned? It looks like a miniature version of any other tree left to grow naturally. It lacks form, character, and beauty. Like the Bonsai, God desires, through pruning, to bring out our character, beauty, talents that we would be formed into the person he created us to be.
Often the things we become addicted to, the need for fame, video games, the perfect body, partying, even work aren’t really the things from which we derive pleasure. They simply kill time, numb our senses, or give us a false sense of purpose. How often have you heard, its not the destination, it’s the journey? Why? Because once you have arrived, the sense of completeness, wholeness, satisfaction, or joy you expected lasts only for a moment and then leaves you empty wondering, what now?
He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes
the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
John 15:2
Pruning then is not a punishment. It is a reward. You may be wondering, what else is there to do if my life is changed? What will I focus on if I don’t focus on me? How will I fill my time? What then?
God prunes us so we can bear fruit, so we can grow on other’s people’s trees. Studies show the best cure for many who are depressed is simply reaching out and helping others in need. As God prunes the worldly ways from our lives, it frees us to bear fruit in the lives of those around us.
- Volunteer at a food bank, women’s shelter or pregnancy center. Most provide free training to volunteers.
- Mentor children or adults and help them learn to read, do math, music, or art.
- Help the elderly in your neighborhood with yard work, home repairs, and grocery shopping.
- Be a big brother or a big sister and change a child’s life.
- Find a nonprofit you would like to help such as one that assists veterans, disabled persons, animals, abused women or children.
- Work with your local church to identify needs in your community and find ways to bridge those gaps.
- Read books about people like George Mueller and see how one person can affect the lives of thousands.
We hear it is better to give than to receive. This is true not because we get credit with God for giving. It is true because it changes you as the giver. It lifts you up and makes you better. It brightens your day. And the truth is, we receive those things for which we are searching when we’ve been pruned of our selfishness and instead serve others.
Our Challenge this week is to work on removing distractions from our lives – one each month and replace it with a fruit bearing activity.
Blessings
– psg –
Recent Comments