The Purpose of Life--That I Be Entertained

Has anyone noticed that in our society in the Western world, there is a craze for being entertained? Listen to the things people say. It is common to hear a fellow-worker say: "I live for the weekend, when I can stay home and watch a good football game, or when I can go fishing, or when I can take in the latest movie." It is typical of a teacher to say: "I can put up with these students Monday through Friday, because when I get off Friday afternoon, I am going on a weekend trip, or I am going skiing, or I am going to a play in the big city." You name a person's work; often that person LIVES to be entertained in one way or other; that person EXPECTS to be entertained; that person feels he/she has been DEPRIVED of a necessity (or the necessities) of life if he/she is not entertained.

Watch what people do if they lose possessions which they purchased or were given for the specific purpose of entertaining them: boats, camping or skiing or fishing or hunting gear, video games, CDs, DVDs--and the list goes on and on. They feel their lives just cannot go on without these "necessities." After all, isn't the purpose of life that I be entertained? Jesus' parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21 speaks volumes to this western obsession with being entertained:

"The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy: eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with ANYONE WHO STORED UP THINGS FOR HIMSELF, but is not rich toward God."