Obsessed!

Mr. Lee Seop was a skinny young man with glasses who wore a gray polyester uniform in his job as a repairman of industrial boilers in South Korea.  After work, he would take off his uniform and head to a nearby Internet cafe. There, the 28-year-old would enter a far more enticing virtual world, populated by sabre-toothed dragons and purple-haired women in metallic bodices.  Gradually the evenings stretched into nights and the nights into the dawning of the next day. He went to work later and later, until his boss finally fired him.

One night, after a 50-hour binge playing an online game called “World of Warcraft,” Lee collapsed and fell off his chair. He died a few hours later.....

"He died of heart failure brought on by exhaustion and dehydration," said 
Dr. Park Woo. "He so dead earnestly concentrated on his games that he forgot to eat and sleep."

The last weeks of Lee's life, he spent largely in Internet cafes, which are open round-the-clock and are homes away from home for many South Koreans. 
(Source - LA Times, 8-29-2005) *

Like Lee, many spend a whole lot of time -- even obsessing – with things that do not matter, to the neglect and detriment of their own SOULS!  
The Apostle Peter wrote: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).  John had a similar warning:  “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For ALL that is in the world—the lust of the FLESH, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” 
(1 John 2:15-17).

The things of this world are TEMPORARY, so we must not allow ourselves 
to be distracted or obsessed by them.  Only he who -DOES- the will of God will remain forever. God sent His Son into the world to die on the cross for our sins (our obsessions), that we might be forgiven and have the promise of eternal life (John 3:16)

It is God’s will that you: place your faith in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).  It is also God’s will that you: CONTINUE to follow Jesus as a way of life 
(1 John 1:7), so that His blood can CONTINUE to cleanse you from sin.

Do NOT allow obsessions to cause YOU to miss out on God’s will for your life.  
Don't just "KILL TIME" - but rather "INVEST" your time on things that will last – eternally!

David A. Sargent, Minister 

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

* Neil Verwey

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