Consume More, Creating is Like Paying Taxes

You may be thinking you don’t create anything but I wanted to know, do we pay attention to the difference between when we consume something and create something?  I listened to an album by Chris Tomlin this morning on the way to work, but I didn’t create an album.  I also consumed a message by my pastor, Rusty, during our Tuesday men’s meeting, breakfast, read several blog posts, and bought something at Best Buy (none of which I created).

If you say initially, no, I don’t or haven’t created anything, I would ask then, have you taken a photo, written a blog post, spoken at a conference or meeting, or given birth to an idea?  Creating can be like paying taxes.  You go throughout your day and once the day is over, you don’t even realize how many times you paid taxes throughout the day.  Every time we buy something, download something, eat, fill up our gas tanks, use electricity, we pay taxes, so like wise, we create in various ways throughout the day too.

This country in particular is all about consuming, but what are we consuming compared to what are we producing that others will consume?  Most of our consumables today are in the form of mass produced items made in China (thanks Biscuet), but that is not all we consume.  Most of those are physical products, products “where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19).  So is creating something what we I should be more focused on, right? Depends.

As with everything, we need a balance, but what if all we did was consume?  Can we live by only consuming in one area, like information?  What if that information was God’s word?  Of course, the idea is how often do we consume God’s word.  Where is the balance, and when do we need to take what we have consumed of God’s word and start creating?  Do we create from consuming God’s word?  Absolutely.

Just ask your worship leader or pastor.  Part of their job is directly converting the consumption into a creation.  For most of us, we have to consume more.  Drink in the Word like a Coke or cup of coffee and have it become a part of us until we have the ability to grow the coffee beans, ship them to a manufacturer, grind them up, sell them, and brew the coffee without ever thinking about what steps it took to get from point A to point B.

This is one of the things I am trying desperately trying to focus on this year.  I am amazed at how hard that is to do when working inside the walls of the church.  Initially, I was thinking, ok, now I can be immersed in God’s word all day since I am working in “ministry” or at the “church”.  Oh course I knew this wasn’t going to be the case but I have found it no easier to go deep into God’s word and consume Him now, than I did before I walked into the building with a staff label instead of a attender label.

So I am telling myself to consume more, but can you really have one without the other?