The Grand Obsession

It's only been very recently that I've joined the great virtual pinning phenomenon known as Pinterest. (Anybody heard of it?) In all honesty, I really do enjoy scrolling through all the miscellaneous photos, videos, quotes, and links that are to be found in its endless archives. Being the EXTREMELY visual person that I am, I get a big kick out of browsing through the mass of digital files. Dreamy photographs, breathtaking scenery, adorable puppies, clever quotes, interior design ideas, fashion that I'll never afford...

*sigh*

*forces attention back on blog post*

Ahem.

Like all the other new trends popping up in the world of social networking, Pinterest has its pros and cons. You can use it as a tool to share God's truth (which, I might add, pertains to every aspect of life) and have a little fun on the side, or you can sit there for hours having fun and subsequently rationalizing your horrendous waste of time by saying you were doing it for the common good (of whom, I'm not entirely sure...). Or, you can kind of skip through it blithely, pinning here and there, enjoying yourself, giggling at the cute puppy faces, sighing at the wedding dresses...

Ah. The wedding dresses. And the guy in the tux. Now comes the entire point of this discussion. :)

Pinterest (and Facebook before it) seemed to brimming with photos from girls dreaming about their future significant other. They might look like this:

 Or maybe they're focused on things a little more spiritual, like this:

Or this:

But they're all pretty much the same. Same overall message: boy meets girl, boy smiles at girl, dear-future-mister, holding hands while the sun is going down behind them...

Now, come on, girls. You know you like this kind of stuff. I'm right there with you. I think it would be AMAZING to have a hidden photographer waiting to snap a shot of the moment when my future husband proposes to me. And I certainly think there's nothing more important in a man than his relationship with God and a love for His Word.

But isn't a whole album entitled "Here Comes the Bride" or "We Can Dream" featuring photos like this just a little...much? Even a considerable smattering of such futuristic pins in any album might be a bit over the top. Think about it. Does the word "obsession" come to mind? For me, it definitely does. We want to find our soul mate, somebody we can love and be loved by, a good and godly man that we can share the rest of our lives with. It's a natural desire and a beautiful one, placed in our hearts by the God Who the very source and fuel of pure, perfect love. Nevertheless, I would suggest that perhaps there's something wrong when we plaster our lives with dreamy reminders of our romantic aspirations - however spiritual they may be.

My father, one of the wisest people in my life, once noted that humans are created to be obsessed. It's built into us just like love and fear and joy and all of the other emotions that make us what we are. We were created to be obsessed with our Creator. However, because our world is fallen and sin has defaced its beauty, we tend to be obsessed with everything BUT our Creator. Like fashion, electronics, trends...our future Mister...

Are you getting the idea? Instead of being obsessed with dreaming about whoever God might have in our future, why not celebrate the beautiful life He has already given us - and be obsessed with Him?

John Piper put it well: "He is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him."

Make Him your grand obsession. He'll take care of the rest.