We live in a consumer culture.
Where the desire to consume dominates our attention.
We see this in…
-The mass consumption of entertainment, news, gossip, etc.
-The lust for luxury and pleasure.
-And even FOMO (the fear of missing out) reflects the pull to consume.
Of course, a level of consumption has its place…
As a gift of God… for our enjoyment, learning and rejuvenation.
(Food is an example of this.)
But if we are not careful…
Consuming displaces God’s call on us to produce.
The first chapter of the Bible tells us we’re to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28).
The most obvious application of this is to have children.
But the command also includes a gajillion other activities we can do to gardenize the world as God intends (Gen. 2:15).
So…
Consider where He might have you use your resources to create rather than consume.
And try this as a rule of thumb…
… For every hour spent consuming, spend two producing.
And don’t be afraid to do something new.
Like…
-Creating art or music.
-Reaching out to make new friends or serve someone.
-Or even start a business or voluntary organization.
On the last day…
God will not say “well done good and faithful servant” on the basis of what we consumed during our days.
He’ll say it on the basis of what we’ve done to be fruitful with our gifts and opportunities (Mt. 25:14-30).
Yeah, there’s a time to consume.
But in the end, producing beats consuming.
