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Podcast
Hobbies
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I want to talk about the question, should Christians
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have hobbies?
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Many Christian websites ask this question, but they don't actually answer it.
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The usual answer is something like, it's okay to have hobbies if they aren't sinful.
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For example, GotQuestions.org concludes this, quote, so yes, Christians can have hobbies,
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but we have to make sure they never replace Christ.
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That is the temptation, and we must be sure to avoid it, close quote.
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Well, that's true, of course.
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I would add, if they don't get in the way of biblically mandated priorities.
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But all that does not answer the question.
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Most Christian sites answer the question, may or can, or is it okay for Christians to
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have hobbies?
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But the question GotQuestions.org asks and does not answer is, should Christians have
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hobbies?
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To conclude that hobbies are okay if they're not bad does not answer the question.
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So I want to attempt an answer.
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I suggest, if it's at all possible, yes, a Christian should have a hobby.
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It can be argued that hobbies did not exist for most people before the Industrial Revolution.
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A few rich people could go on a fox hunt or play polo, I suppose, but most people's hobbies
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were unavailable.
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The thing is, we don't live in a pre-industrial world.
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This has become a modern, postmodern, worldwide, web, digital, computer, cell phone, high tech,
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whatever world.
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I recently heard a commentator say, we can now conclude the cell phone is officially
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part of the human body.
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It's also hard to find hobbies in the Bible, but we don't live in Bible times either.
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The relevant question is, are there examples and instructions in the Bible that, having
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understood what the biblical author is saying, we can apply to the idea of having hobbies
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today?
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First, we should define a hobby.
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Merriam-Webster defines a hobby as, quote, a pursuit outside of one's regular occupation,
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engaged in especially for relaxation, close quote.
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The New Oxford American Dictionary says a hobby is, quote, an activity done regularly
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in one's leisure time for pleasure.
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Wikipedia says it's, quote, a regular activity done for enjoyment, typically during one's
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leisure time, close quote.
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So my conclusion is that a hobby is an activity a person does regularly outside of his or
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her occupation, which is done for pleasure.
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There seems to be five criteria involved in a hobby.
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A hobby is, number one, an activity where something is being done.
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It's not just a state of mind or an attitude.
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For example, meditation, contemplation, and prayer are by themselves not hobbies.
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Number two, it's done regularly, where something is done on a regular basis.
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It might be seasonal, but not occasional.
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If I go fishing every weekend, if the weather permits, it's a hobby.
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If I go fishing once or twice a year, it's not a hobby.
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Three, it's outside of one's occupation, something not necessary for livelihood.
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It's not something one is paid to do or something done during the time of one's employment.
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Hobbies require the availability of discretional time.
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Four, which someone decides to do.
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It must be a personal decision, not mandated by someone else, say a parent or an employer
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or an organization, say a religion or a government.
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And fifth, it's done for pleasure, pleasure defined as a feeling of happy satisfaction
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and enjoyment by the New Oxford American Dictionary.
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So there's a few corollaries we need to add to this definition.
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First of all, for hobbies, time is essential, but wealth is optional.
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Hobbies require the availability of discretional time, but not necessarily discretional wealth.
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Kids are throwing basketballs through hoops and kicking soccer balls on empty plots of
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ground all over the world with minimal financial investment.
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Two, second corollary, hobbies bring rest from work if you're working.
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To cease work assumes that one is working.
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The Sabbath rest for Israel assumed the Israelites were working.
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Hobbies cannot bring relaxation to someone who's lazy.
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Solomon then said in Proverbs 26, 14, as the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard
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on his bed.
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The activity of people who are now working, say retired or incapacitated, is not being
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discussed here.
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The word hobby here is only applied to rest for people who are being paid to do some sort
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of labor.
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Corollary number three, hobbies are for pleasure, not fun.
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There's a difference between pleasure and fun.
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Fun is a ride on a roller coaster at an amusement park.
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Hobbies are not just for amusement, and they're not necessarily lighthearted.
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Four, hobbies can be evil, but in that case, hobbies have no value.
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Are there hobbies in the Bible?
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Well, there seems to be a hobby in the life of David.
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David's music, especially his playing of the harp, probably qualifies as a hobby.
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He wrote in Psalm 33, 1 to 3, I sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.
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Praise is becoming to the upright.
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Give thanks to the Lord with a lyre.
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Sing praise to him with a harp of ten strings.
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Sing to him a new song.
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Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
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We don't know the circumstances surrounding David when he began, probably taught himself,
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to play the harp.
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Most likely, when David was a young boy, his harp playing fit all five criteria of a hobby.
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When he played it for Saul, it was not a choice done for pleasure, and when he wrote Psalms
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to put to music, it seems to be part of what David saw as his occupation.
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David issued the directive of the choir director 56 times.
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Nonetheless, much of David's music seems to be, number one, an activity, number two, done
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regularly, number three, outside of his occupation, number four, as a choice, and five, for pleasure.
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Hobbies in the life of Solomon.
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And David's son Solomon pursued something close to hobbies.
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He wrote in Ecclesiastes 2, 10, and 11,
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All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them.
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I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my
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labor, and this was my reward for all my labor.
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Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done, and the labor which I had
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exerted, and behold, it was all vanity and striving after wind.
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There was no profit unto the sun.
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Solomon's activities meet all the criteria of a hobby, except number three, since he
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said he considered his pleasure-seeking activity as part of all his labor.
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In that sense, they were not true hobbies, but otherwise, four out of five were hobbies.
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Solomon also made the mistake of having immoral hobbies and thinking that it had lasting value
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before realizing it didn't.
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We therefore learn from Solomon that hobbies should not be immoral or seen as having lasting
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value.
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Are there any hobbies in the life of Moses?
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Well, Moses gave us another activity to consider for hobbies, and that's keeping the Sabbath.
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Exodus 20, verse 10, on the seventh day, as a Sabbath to the Lord your God, in it you
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shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male or your female
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servant or your cattle or your sojourners who stay with you.
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For Moses, the Sabbath was described as let no man go out of his place on the seventh
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day.
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In the New Testament times, it was described as about a half of a mile or about a kilometer
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in Acts 1.12.
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Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem a Sabbath
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day's journey away.
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The Sabbath was number one in activity, number two, done regularly, number three, outside
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of one's occupation, number five, intended for pleasure since it prevented hard work
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for hard workers.
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But it was not number four, a personal decision, since it was mandated by the Mosaic law.
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So Sabbath keeping was like a four-fifths of a hobby.
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Is there a hobby in the life of Jesus?
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Jesus sought out occasions to be by himself in a secluded place and told his disciples
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to do the same.
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Matthew 14.13, now when Jesus heard about John, he withdrew from there in a boat to
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a secluded place by himself.
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Mark 1.35, in the early morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and
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went away to a secluded place and was praying there.
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Mark 6.31.32, and he said to them, come away by yourself to a secluded place and rest awhile.
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For there were many people coming and going and they did not even have time to eat.
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They went away in a boat to a secluded place by themselves.
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Luke 4.42, when the day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place.
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For Jesus, this would qualify as a hobby according to our five criteria.
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It was number one, an activity, which number two, he did regularly.
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Number three, outside of his ministry or his occupation, which he, number four, decided
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to do, which was for him, number five, a time of pleasure, since it was a time for prayer
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to the Father, something Jesus enjoyed.
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So an ideal hobby includes doing something we take pleasure in, which God also takes
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pleasure in.
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Why Christians should have a hobby.
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Number one, the five criteria for a hobby can express biblical ideas, each criteria
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defining a hobby, it's an activity a person does regularly outside of his or her occupation,
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which they decide to do for pleasure as illustrated in the Bible in a positive way, even though
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they're not necessarily all the same activity.
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And number two, hobbies can allow us to express gifts, talents, or skills that we can be thankful
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for.
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Hobbies usually require learning some new skill.
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Certainly this can lead to pride, but not necessarily.
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It can also lead to thankfulness, as it did with David concerning his music.
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Three, hobbies can allow us to express creativity, creativity used for good as value.
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God gave it to us.
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It separates us from the rest of the cosmos, and it reflects the character of God.
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Four, a hobby is a good way to be in the world and not of the world.
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Hobbies can be a platform for evangelism.
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It was important to Jesus that his disciples be in this world while not being of this world.
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He prayed in John 17, 15, and 18, I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but
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to keep them from the evil one.
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They're not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
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Sanctify them in the truth.
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Your word is truth.
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As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
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The fifth thing, hobbies help us be more vital or interesting or compelling or significant
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people.
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Jesus told his disciples, you're the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless,
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how can it be made salty again?
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It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
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You're the light of the world.
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Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and
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glorify your fathers in heaven.
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Salt and light represent our understanding of the word of God, but it is one thing to
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be salt and lights and another to let your light shine before men.
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How are we going to be salt and light to the world?
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Hobbies can help with that.
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They can not only plug us into people of the world, but they can make us more knowledgeable.
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It's harder for people to write us off as a religious nutcase when they're vital, interesting,
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and compelling and significant people.
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In conclusion, hobbies should not be sinful or rob time from biblically mandated priorities.
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But hobbies can be a form of rest, which assumes we're working.
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Hobbies can allow us to develop our gifts, express our creativity, be in the world without
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being of the world, and make us more vital people as we express the salt and light of
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the word of God to the world.
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Thank you for listening.
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A longer paper on this subject with footnotes for the quotes is available on our website,
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relationalconcepts.org.
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And thank you for listening.
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God bless.
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God bless.
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