(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So I'm going to preach an entire sermon on basically one verse which is the verse of the week. If you look at your bulletin, it's going to be Proverbs 21 and verse number five where the Bible says, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness but of everyone that is hasty only to want. So the title of the sermon this morning is this. The title of the sermon is likes, wants and goals, likes, wants and goals. And the purpose of the sermon this morning is to define these three things for you and show you why and the Bible points out why some people are able to accomplish their goals and some people are not able to accomplish their goals. Many people in their life will look at someone who is very successful and I'm talking about all areas of life but of course we're going to apply it to your spiritual life this morning because that's the most important goal that you should have. But many people will look at successful people and be like oh well they're lucky or they were helped along the way or maybe they were born into whatever their situation is which all those things may be true but I want to show you this morning that there is a very specific thing that people that are successful do that differentiate them from people that just cannot get anything done or cannot get anything accomplished. So that's the purpose of, that's my goal for the sermon this morning is to show you the difference between those two types of people. So the title, likes, wants and goals. What's that all about? So let's define what I mean by those two things. Let's first start out with this idea of likes or I guess a like is like a preference. So I'm going to use an example of Brother George and I out soloing last week and I hope Brother George wouldn't mind me telling this story but Brother George and I I'm going to define the word, the term likes for you alright and I'm going to tell you what it is and what it isn't. So Brother George and I were out soloing last Sunday and we saw in a parking lot, we saw a Corvette. We saw a C4 Corvette sitting in the stall of this apartment complex and we both pointed out like we both liked that car. We both liked that era of Corvette. It was kind of the era from the mid-80s to the mid-90s where I grew up in that era. I won't put George in that same, you know, generational, I don't know why he liked it, he's too young but I like that car. It's kind of from my era when I was growing up and liked cars and plus it was in really nice shape and it's just nice to see a 30 year old car that somebody takes good care of, right? But the point is this, I like that car but I didn't want that car. I just liked it. It was just something that I had a preference towards that car but there was zero percent of me that, you know, had a desire for, you know, obtaining that car, alright? And look, I'm not against you if you want that car but I'm just saying, me personally, I liked the car but it wasn't something that I wanted to bring that car higher towards. So that's how simple that term like is, right? I just liked that car. Now if you're looking at that car in the sermon title which is likes, wants and goals, wanting is different. Turn to Psalm chapter 34, turn to Psalm chapter number 34. So things that you like that you would like to seek that you have a desire for, that is a want, alright? And the Bible talks a lot about wants and I could go through verse after verse after verse about wanting or people wanting something, alright? Look at Psalm 34 and verse number 10. So the Bible talks a lot about this state of want where you are in this situation where you don't have something, you like it and you desire it. That's called a state of wanting, alright? Look at Psalm chapter 34 and verse number 10. Look what the Bible says. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. What does it mean by they will not want any good thing? They won't want any good thing because they have it, because they already have it. So if you want something and then you seek after it diligently, the Bible is saying in Proverbs 21, we're gonna go back there, you won't want it anymore because you have obtained it, you have it, alright? And I don't want to give away the goals definition but you kinda see where I'm going with this. So liking is just a preference, a state of want is something where there's something that you have a desire for and you do not have it. Look that can be good things and that can be bad things. I'm just trying to define some terms for you this morning but the Bible is saying those that seek the Lord shall not want, they will not be in that state of want for any good thing because they will have those things. So the point is Psalm 34 is telling us that this state of want, wanting good things, alright? If you look at Psalm 34 and just look at what it's really saying, wanting or being in a state of want for good things is not somewhere you want to hang out. You don't want to be in a state of want for good things, alright? Look there's plenty of people that have wants and likes of bad things and we shouldn't like or want bad things, I'll talk about that in a few minutes but being in a state of want for things that are good is not somewhere you want to stay. That's what Psalm 34 and verse number 10 is showing us, alright? Now turn back to Proverbs chapter number 21, now let's talk about goals, alright? Let's talk about goals. Now that we know what we mean by the word likes, what we mean by the word so like is a preference that you have, like I had a preference for that car, that doesn't mean I want it though, that doesn't mean that it's anywhere on my list of anything that I want in my life, it's just not something that I wanted. No a want is something that you desire to achieve, that you desire to have, alright? Look back at Proverbs chapter 21 now and look at verse number 5, now let's talk about goals and what goals are. Look at Proverbs 21 5, the Bible says this, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness but of everyone that is hasty only to what? Only to want. See want, notice what it says about want there, it doesn't say you're going to achieve that want, it says someone that is hasty, you're going to only have want. You're going to just be in the state of want and you will never get anywhere further than that. That's what Proverbs 21 5 is showing us. So goals, if you look at the thoughts of the diligent, the diligent, diligent that word is all over the Bible, what diligence means is persistence over time. It means that if you're diligent it doesn't mean you're persistent this week, it means you're always persistent. It means you're working towards something all the time and you don't stop. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness. So it says if your thoughts are diligent it's just always going to be plentiful, you're not going to have want but it says that if you're hasty you're going to be stuck in want. So I'm going to give you three reasons this morning now that we know those three terms likes, wants, and goals. Goals are things that we desire that we set our heart and our actions unto, that we set our thoughts, our hearts, and our actions unto. I'll give you three reasons this morning now that you understand those three terms on why people don't achieve their goals. Turn to Hebrews chapter number 11. If you just remember Proverbs chapter 21 where the people that were stuck in the state of want, they were hasty. So three reasons that people don't achieve their goals is my purpose for you this morning. The first one is this, people want to have something right away. They want to have something quickly. Look at Hebrews chapter 11 in verse number 6. This is what the Bible is saying in Proverbs 21, 5. He that is hasty, meaning he wants something fast, he wants something quickly, he that is hasty is going to, they're never going to achieve anything. They're going to just be stuck in that state of want constantly. Look at Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 6. The Bible says, but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that what? That diligently seek him. What does that mean? So the Bible is saying that you need faith at the beginning of this whole thing. You need to be a faithful person. A faithful person is not, again, what did we learn last, two weeks ago? A faithful person is not derailed by fear. Right? Look, everyone has fear, everyone has doubts, but someone that is faithful and not fearful is somebody that allows their faith to define what they do. Someone that's fearful has that fear, but that fear defines what they do. So if somebody is faithful, if they have that faith, they will diligently seek the Lord. Meaning they will be persistent over time seeking the Lord. So look, they're not hasty is what the Bible is saying. So it takes, you can't have everything right away. In the Christian life, especially Hebrews 11 is telling us, it takes diligence. It takes diligence. I mean, you don't have to walk into this Christian life. This Christian life is a lifelong goal. Not to give away the entire sermon, but it's a lifelong goal. If you're hasty about it and you're saying, well, I don't know everything right away, or I haven't gotten everything right, right away, look, you are going to end up in a state of want in your Christian life and you're not going to achieve anything in your Christian life. So the first reason that people fail at achieving things is because they want to have things right away. And this goes with not just the Christian life, but every other goal that people have as well. So the want stage, folks, is not instant, is what the Bible is telling us here. This is why people get stuck in want, because they quit and then they're just stuck wanting, right? They start, they cannot diligently continue. Turn to James chapter number one, turn to James chapter number one. Remember in Proverbs 21 five, I'll read it for you again. The Bible says, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness. So someone that is diligent, their thoughts are diligent, because your thoughts define your actions. Look at James chapter one and verse number eight, the Bible says this. It says a double minded man is unstable in all his ways, meaning his thoughts like one day he thinks this, one day I think I'm going to do this, and one day I think I'll go and do this, and the other day I think not, and all these different things. I mean, there's so many different things that people fail at because their thoughts are just double minded. One day they set something that they want, and the next day they don't want that thing. They just can't decide where their thoughts are going to be. But the Bible says in Proverbs 21 five that the man that has plenteousness, his thoughts are diligent. Meaning his thoughts are upon the same thing all the time, and he never stops. He's persistent over time in his thoughts. Genesis 49 and verse number four, I'll just read it for you, but Jacob says this to his son Reuben. He says unstable is water. He's saying you're unstable, thou shalt not excel. Look, if you are not stable, if you do not have thoughts that are stable, if you are double minded, you will not excel at anything. And this sermon, these three reasons apply not just to your spiritual life, I'm going to give you some examples of just secular things. You will not excel at anything if you are hasty and you are a double minded person. You have to control your thoughts. Diligence means you are consistent every day until that want is achieved. That's what diligent means. Then you reach that goal and you exit the want stage. Then you become the Psalm 34 10 person that doesn't have want because you are diligent and now you have plenteousness. You don't have the want anymore. Turn back to Proverbs 21 verse number five. So people that can accomplish goals, the first point this morning, people that can accomplish goals, they're not double minded, they're single minded. Every day they are working towards that goal. Point number two is this. Here's the second reason that people can't achieve their goals. And the reason that I define likes, wants, and goals is because many times the second reason is this. People's likes don't match their goals. People's likes, their preferences don't match their goals. You say, what are you talking about pastor? Well let me give you an example. Just a simple example of like health goals. A simple example of health goals. You know you say somebody sets health goals. People do this with New Year's resolutions, right? And is this a problem? Yes, most New Year's resolutions last about two weeks. And you say, why is that? It's because their likes don't match their goals. Look, they're hasty. Definitely the first one. But a main reason for health goals failing is people's likes don't match their goals. You say, what are their goals? Well, their goals are to look and feel better. Their goals are to live longer, live healthier, maybe be more active for their kids and be more active for their grandkids. Those are their goals. Look, those are good goals. But what are their likes? Their likes are food, laziness, their phone. Their likes are sluggishness, just being lazy and just wasting time and just being on a seafood diet like they see food and they eat it, right? I mean the problem is is that their likes don't match their goals. And that's an issue. And then they're double minded and their likes, they like sweets or whatever it is so much that the next day they're like, well, I don't even know if I wanted that goal anymore. And then they go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, right? So they just get larger and more unhealthy and they can't stop the cravings. They can't be consistent. They're hasty people. They're double minded and they just have no self control and they fail at their goal. Their likes don't match their goals. That's the second, that's the second reason people fail. Turn to Proverbs chapter 24. What's the third reason? What's the third reason? The third reason people cannot achieve their goals is that they have the wrong goals. Turn to Proverbs chapter 24. I'm going to use an example this morning on this reason that people have the wrong goals. I'm going to use an example this morning that many young men today struggle with. The example of choosing the wrong goals is why many young men today, and I'm even talking teenagers today up to just young men, you know, under the age of 30, maybe even beyond the age of 30, who knows? They had a struggle with finding a career. They struggle with finding, with choosing a job. What do I need to do for a living? Well, you have to ask yourself, what are your goals? What are your goals? Look at Proverbs chapter 24 and verse number 27. Proverbs 24, 27 literally tells a young man how to choose a job. Look at verse number 27 of Proverbs 24. You say, does the Bible tell you every detail of your life? Absolutely it does. Look at Proverbs 24 and verse number 27. Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field, and afterwards build thine house. You say, well, what are you talking about, pastor? This is telling a young man how to choose what he should do for a living. You say, could you explain that, pastor? Well, let me ask you this. When you look at what you should do for a living, what are your goals? When a young man asks himself, what should I be when I grow up, what's the goal? Well, what's the goal in Proverbs chapter 24 and verse number 27? The goal is to build thine house. See, people have the wrong goals today. People are going to school today, and the guidance counselor at school, this is what kids are being taught today. Kids are going to school, and they're being taught, like, hey, you're special. You can change the world. I'm not debating that, but I'm just saying that that equals, you know, I'm going to be an astronaut. I need to be an astronaut that colonizes Mars. You know, I need to be, you know, you're special. You can change the world. When I was in school, I can't tell you how many times it was thrown out there, like, you could be the president of the United States. Guess what, folks? Most kids are not going to be the president of the United States. God forbid any one of my kids would want to be the president of the United States. God forbid. Or how about this one? What do you love? You have to do something that you love. It's the wrong goals. This is how kids. You must do something that you love. This is how kids. They're like, well, I like baseball, so I'm going to be a professional baseball player. I really love basketball, so I need to be an NBA player. Look, the vast majority, 99.999% of people are not going to be professional baseball players. This is why, this mentality is why you find kids that have dozens of jobs before they're 20. Because they go and they get a job and they're just like, I don't know, it just doesn't feel right. It just doesn't feel right for me. Because they go to work and they're like, you know what, it's work. They go to work and it's hard. They go to work and they break a sweat. They go to work and they have insulation wrapped around their face when it's 102 degrees outside. And they're like, you know, this just doesn't feel right. But they have the wrong goals. The goal is to not, you know, find something that you love. The goal is to build thine house. They have the wrong goals today. A young man should say, you know what, I would like to make a living for my family. That should be the goal. I would like to make a living for my family. My goal is to have a wife and to have children and be able to support them one day. Not this self-aggrandizing goal of being the president or being some astronaut or whatever. My goal should be my family. My goal should be supporting that family as a young man and look, how do I get there? What kind of job can get me there? That's what Proverbs chapter 24 is telling us. That's the goal. The goal is the family. The goal is the wife. The goal is the children. The goal is the home. Not how to get you there. You go out to the field, you go out there and you get the job that gets you the goal. That's the idea. I did a study with Garrett like five, six years ago. I had a whole spreadsheet and everything. And what we did was we sat down. We sat down when he was a teenager and went through this spreadsheet and I made a mock budget of a household. We set goals. What's your goal? How would you like your home to look? What do you want your household to look like? You want to have a car or two? You want to have a home to live in? And we created a mock budget. And that budget came out to a number that he needed to be able to, you know, bring home. And from there, we went and found, okay, what careers are out there that can do this? That's what Proverbs 34 or 24 is saying. Choose thy work accordingly. The Bible is saying prepare thy work so you can build the house. The house is the goal. So look, find worthy work. Find just gain. Don't go out and be a banker or something. The Bible is saying find just gain. The Bible is very clear about that. You should go out there and you should find something that betters society, betters the community, provide a service, provide a product. I don't know who I was talking about with just the other day but like every young man should work some kind of construction or building or be in some kind of factory or something like that at least at the beginning of his career or his job so he can know how things go together, know how things are done. That will just reward him for the rest of his life if he learns those types of things. You know, go out and find just gain but afterwards build thine house. That's the goal. Look, and look, the American dream is still possible today. The American dream to do that is still possible today. The problem with the kids today is they just have the wrong goals. That's the problem. You have to choose something that will help you accomplish the correct goals. It's that easy, folks. Then you go out because guess what? Nobody wakes up in the morning, we were just talking about this the other night too, nobody wakes up or nobody's an eight year old or nine year old kid and says, you know what, I just, I dream of being a septic tank truck driver. I dream of having a septic pumping business. Nobody wakes up and says that but guess what? When you go out and you start that business and you build that business and pretty soon that's providing your goals for you, you'll learn to love whatever that business you're in. You'll learn to love whatever that career is that you're in but kids have the wrong thinking today because nobody would go out and work hard with this kind of thinking that is out there today and that's why nobody's going out and work hard, working hard today because everybody's got the wrong goals. They all want to have some job where they come to work every day and they get congratulated for doing nothing and they get congratulated for learning nothing and they don't have to ever do anything and they just want to sit there and have some cushy job where they can watch YouTube videos all day or something, I don't know what they want but the goals are incorrect and those jobs do not exist and this is why you're seeing people just go from job to job to job to job. The goal is the family. The goal is the support. Just go find something that can get you to that goal and you will learn to love that thing. You will appreciate that thing. So the three reasons that people can't accomplish their goals is number one, they're hasty. They want things right away. Number two, their likes don't match their goals and number three, they have the wrong goals in general. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter number four, 2 Timothy chapter number four. Now let's talk about your spiritual life because this is where you really should have goals, you know, aside from the secular examples that I've used and it can all be applied there as well but you should have some goals for your spiritual life. Look at 2 Timothy chapter number four and look down at verse number six. This is what Paul says at the very end of his life, at the very end of his life he says this, he says, for I'm now ready to be offered, my opinion is that he knew he was about to be executed and the time of my departure is at hand. I've fought a good fight, I've finished my course, I have kept the faith. So Paul here is saying is that, you know what, I'm about to achieve my goal and the end of the achievement of your goal for the Christian life is staying in the Christian life for your entire life. So Paul's goal, and what he's telling us, is our goal for our spiritual life is to be to serve the Lord with our lives. Not two weeks of our lives, not six months of our lives, but with our whole lives. And look, that's my goal for my children as well. My goal for my children is that they would grow up and become adults and then they would want to, they would have that desire, they would have that like, that want to set that goal for themselves to serve the Lord with their lives too. That's a goal of mine. So I literally have a goal for myself that applies to my children. And I mean, but the problem is this, turn to Matthew chapter 13. The problem with our spiritual lives and this goal that Paul is telling us that we should have is the exact opposite of the Corvette story. So what was the Corvette story? The Corvette story was something that I liked that I really didn't want, but I liked it. The problem we have with our spiritual lives is that we set goals, it's basically problem number two that I put into you. We set goals and we don't have the likes to go along with them. And the reason is, is because there is a battle for your desires. There is a battle going on for your attention and for the things that you will like. Look at Matthew chapter 13. This is the whole point of the parable of the sower. This is the whole application of this parable. This is not a parable that is talking about salvation. I mean, you could apply it to salvation, but it is not a parable that is really talking about salvation. It is a parable that is talking about why people fail in the Christian life. If you look at Matthew 13 and verse number 18, it's basically talking about why people fail at continuing in the Christian life and especially why they fail at becoming fruitful in the Christian life. Of course, there's a seed. It's a parable of the sower. This man is going and he's throwing seed and he throws some to the wayside and this is somebody that doesn't even, you know, the seed is the word of God. He throws some to the wayside and the birds come get it and it's just rejected. This is somebody that just doesn't even want to hear the word of God. So if there's anyone that's unsaved in the parable, it's number one. It's the wayside. Everybody else is people that have accepted the word of God. But then there's some seed that's thrown in the stony places. There's seed that's thrown amongst the thorns and then there's seed that's of course thrown amongst the good ground, which is where we want to be. But the two points that Jesus is making here is that the reasons people make it in the Christian life for a while is the stony places and the thorny ground. Look at verse number 18. Jesus is explaining the parable now. He says, hear ye the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart, this is he which receiveth seed by the wayside. This is somebody that didn't accept it at all. Verse 20. But he that receiveth seed into the stony places, the same is he that heareth the word and anon with joy receiveth it. For a while they receive it and they're joyful about it, yet he hath not rooted himself, but doeth for a while. For when tribulation and persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he's offended. Verse number 22. So this is someone that they get saved and they continue in the Christian life for a while and this is why Jesus literally talks so much about persecution and tribulation so you wouldn't be offended when it happens because the Bible is saying when you start to actually do what the word of God says, people are going to persecute you, people are going to be mad at you, you're going to go through some tribulation there. But that's what Jesus tells us. Look at verse 22. This is why the prosperity gospel is wrong. Yes, God will bless you in your life, you know, if you get some things right you listen to the Bible, but people will persecute you for it. God will bless you, people will persecute you. Verse 22. And these people quit, they get that persecution, they're like, no, no, no, I don't want to be persecuted. No, I don't want people to be mad at me, I don't want to be peculiar, I don't want to separate from anything, I need to go along with the crowd and they don't become unsaved, they just become out of the Christian life and unfruitful. The seed becomes unfruitful. Verse 22. The second reason is this. He also that receiveth the seed among the thorns is he that here at the word and the care of this world and deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful. This is point number two. This is the Bible here is telling us that if you get into the world and you like so many things in the world and you just let the world overtake you, you literally will not like spiritual things anymore. Your flesh will overtake the spirit that is within you. You're not going to become unsaved, but you will become unfruitful. Again, look at verse 23. Then he that receiveth a seed in the good ground is he that hearth the word, understandeth it, also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. So look, people in their spiritual lives, they have goals, but some people just don't like the spiritual things. That's a major problem. So two reasons you fail according to this parable is that there's tribulation and there's trouble coming if you're in the Christian life and then the world will literally rob your desire for spiritual things. And you must be aware of this. It will rob your likes. Imagine trying to live a Christian life and then your desire for the Christian life goes away. That risk is there. I mean, what the Bible is saying though is that the cares of the world will rob your desire to go soul winning. The cares of the world will rob your desire to go to church. The cares of the world will rob your desire to even pick up your Bible and read your Bible. The cares of the world will do that to you. I mean, look, I'm in the world. I'm in the world. I have to go to work just like everybody else. All the other men in this church go to work, but let me tell you something. I can't remember a time when it was church day and I didn't want to come. And I'm thankful for that because I'm in the world, but that's not my purpose out there in the world. It's not my purpose. This is my purpose here. This is your purpose here. And unless you get the like right in your spiritual life, there's a spiritual aspect here. Unless you get this like right, there's no chance of achieving the goal. Turn to Ephesians chapter six. See, what people don't understand is that there is a spiritual battle happening here. Now ask yourself this, if you find yourself in a fight, if two people find themselves in a fight and one person knows that they're in a fight and the other person doesn't even know that there's a fight coming, they have no idea that there's a fight that's about to happen. And even when the fight is happening, they're just like, I don't even know what's happening here. What are the odds that that person that doesn't know that there's a fight going on is going to win that fight? The odds are zero. You have to understand, I tell soul winners this all the time, somebody that just starts soul winning. Whenever you're going to take those next steps in your Christian life, especially that step to decide to go soul winning, to become a soul winner, to go out there and actually bear fruit with the gospel, when you take that step, you will notice trouble in your life. Why? Because it's a battle. That's why. Because it's a fight. And Satan, the wicked one, as we talked about in the parable of the sower, is trying to stop that. He cannot take away your salvation, but he can stop you from bearing fruit. He can knock you out of this Christian life. He can pull you into sin. He can pull you into the cares of this world, and he can destroy your Christian life. That's the best he can hope for, for you. Look at Ephesians chapter 6, look down at verse number 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Satan is trying to put wickedness into your life. There is a spiritual war happening. Satan wants, as I said at the Red Hot Preaching Conference sermon, Satan wants the peace in your home to go away. Satan wants you to have trouble in your marriage. Satan wants you to have trouble with your children. Satan wants you to get into all kinds of sin that takes away everything that would be good in your spiritual life. Satan wants to knock you out of this thing, and he's tricky about it. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Look down at verse number 17, it says, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword. This is your weapon right here. This is your weapon in this battle. It's not a physical weapon. It's not a physical fight that we're in. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. How do you battle the cares of the world? How do you battle the fact that you don't have the likes that could achieve your goals? The way you battle that is by getting into the word of God. The way you battle that is by listening to preaching from the word of God, by reading the word of God, by sitting down with yourself and the Holy Spirit and just finding out what God wants for you. And you will find, look folks, it'll get your head out of the world is what the word of God will do. It is the answer. It's a real thing. It'll get your head out of the world, you get your head into the world of God, and it will literally change you. It will change what you like. It will change what you want. And look, you already have the goals. You already have the goals for yourself. I don't know anybody. I've always asked this question. Every single person, most people I get saved, I ask this question. I say, what do you want to do with your life? How many lives do you have? They say one life. And I say, do you want to waste your life or do you want to have a life that would be, I mean, do you want to change the world? This is how you change the world. You change the world by going out and being a plumber or being a septic tank pumping guy or whatever and going to church and then going soul winning that Sunday. That's how you change the world. That's how you can be better than the president of the United States, which doesn't take much. But the point is this, folks, that's what God wants for your life. I've never had one person, the goal is not the problem for the spiritual life. I've never had one person that has just gotten saved saying, I would like to be unfruitful and waste my entire life. No one ever says that. Everyone always has the goal. I want to be a prophet to my family. I want my children to go to heaven. I want to be a prophet to my wife and my children. I want to benefit them. I want them to hear the gospel. I want them to have this great spiritual life where they serve the Lord with their life. They all want this. The problem is they don't have the likes because they're not in the word of God. They're in the cares of the world. And this like is choked. It's dying. But if you get in the word of God, that is your weapon. Those likes, you say, well, I don't like those things. Look, if you get in the word of God, it will change your desires. It will change who you are and what you want. It will literally change you and you will start to like the spiritual things and you will start to despise the things of the world. We were driving into church today and one of the kids saw a billboard and it was a soccer player and this guy running down the soccer field kicking a soccer ball, this super in shape guy. And it was a beer. It was a beer advertisement. And my daughter's like, my daughter's like, who like goes before a soccer game and like drinks a bunch of beer? Like whoever does that? Who goes before like a, you know, some big athletic event and just like drinks alcohol so they're all stumbling around and whatever. It's just like, it's like the dumbest billboard ever. You know what I said to her? I was like, you know, that is dumb. I was like, but you know what? When you think about just like the whole idea of alcohol is just so stupid. It's so stupid. The analogy I gave them is like, you know, something that would temporarily make you feel good, but then like literally just like hours later makes you feel terrible. I was like, it's like giving somebody a candy, I told my daughter, I was like, if I gave you a candy bar and said, I'll give you this candy bar if after you're done eating, I can punch you in the stomach and like who would eat that candy bar? Nobody would make that decision. But for this temporary feeling of whatever, they'll just, they'll just get wounds without cause. They'll destroy their marriage. They'll destroy their children. They'll be sick. They'll gain all kinds of weight and get diabetes. They'll be, they'll destroy their mind. I mean all these horrible things will happen to you, but you feel good temporarily for an hour. Like who's making this decision? It's so stupid. When you think how like just this has taken over the culture in this country. Just alcohol. I mean forget drugs is like a whole other thing, but if people would make that decision. But the point is, if you get into the word of God, you'll start to see that. You get into the word of God, you're just looking at what everybody else is doing. You're like, what are you nuts? They'll look at you as a Christian and be like, you're peculiar. Like, no, you're crazy. What are you talking about? You're nuts. You're wrecking your whole life. And they'll be like, yeah, but you're peculiar. You go to church three times a week? What are you crazy? Like you're crazy. You're crazy. What's happening to your family is crazy. Yeah, I want to raise children that serve the Lord. I want to love my wife. I want her to love me. I want to have a great marriage. I want to have wonderful children and just a great, I want to build my home. Yeah, I'm nuts. Call me, call me whatever you want. That's what the word of God will do for you. That's what the word of God, they'll give you that kind of attitude other than this fearful attitude of like, okay, I'm saved and I've got eternal life and I don't know if I do this, I'm going to upset these people. Who cares? That's what the word of God is like. Who cares? They're all crazy. They think that soccer stars are drunk or something. I don't know. The world doesn't make any sense. And at least we have the answer. At least we have each other and we know the truth. I mean, the point is, folks, most people don't even know they're in a fight. That's why they're losing. That's why they don't, that's why they don't have any desire for the spiritual things in their lives because it's a literal battle that Satan is fighting against you every single day and they're like, what's going on? They're just destroyed. They're just down on the ground. They don't know that they're in a fight and that's why their likes don't align with their goals. Every single person, whether they've been saved for five years, 50 years or five minutes has the same spiritual goals. It's just some people's likes line up with those goals and some people's don't. And that's the fruitful versus the unfruitful right there. People that their likes don't align with their spiritual goals have zero chance of achieving those goals. So look, and here's another thing, if you don't have the likes to achieve your spiritual goals, your kids won't either. Your kids won't either. And then those goals will fail. And guess what? Let me just end with this this morning. One of the things and like studies show this too. One of the things that brings people joy is achieving goals in their life. So when you go out and you have a, you just set yourself a goal, you say, I'm going to, you know, do this at work and I want to learn these skills by the end of next year, whatever it is, I want to go into this technical training program and I want to get this thing done and get a job in this field by this date. That's a goal. And one of the things that makes people feel joy in their lives, and look, scientific studies show this, is when you get through that state of wanting and you achieve these goals, that brings people great joy in their lives. The beauty of the Christian life is that there's all these sub-goals along the way that are called Christian growth. I'm going to get this out of my life, I'm going to get this into my life, I'm going to get baptized, I'm going to become a soul winner, I'm going to get the gospel to this many people this month, I want to go out soul winning this many times. I mean all these different goals, you can keep meeting these goals, meeting these goals, but the beauty of the Christian life is that overall that pursuit will always be there in your life. And look, there's joy along the way when you're achieving those goals in your Christian life. That's why you go out and you get somebody saved, even though you're going to go out soul winning next week and the next week and the next week and get more and more people saved, it just brings you such great joy in going out and sharing the gospel with somebody that's not saved. A guy told me yesterday morning, you think it must just get old, it never gets old. It never gets old. I went and I talked to this guy yesterday morning and he got the gospel and he got saved and I was walking away and he said, look man, he stopped me and he said, look, I don't know why you stopped and talked to me. Nobody's ever taken the time to stop and show me the things that you've showed me. I was like 40 and he's literally telling me as I showed him the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Bible, I didn't show him my words, I showed him Jesus' words, I showed him the word of God and he said, you know what, nobody in my whole life in 40 years has taken the time to show me what you showed me. You didn't know me, you just stopped me. I was standing here smoking a cigarette, some strange guy walks by me and shows me something that no one has ever done for me. Look, that's joy right there. He had great joy and I had great joy. It never gets old. This Christian life and diligently seeking the Lord never gets old and there may be persecution and there may be tribulation but if I have moments like that, who cares? Forget all that. But look folks, we're never going to achieve perfection in this Christian life. It's just going to be step after step of joy and achievement. As long as we can diligently seek, as long as we can diligently continue. I mean nothing compares to the joy of living a spiritual life to please the Lord. So successful people, they aren't hasty. They know that things don't come right away. They have the right goals and they like things that align with their goals. That's what the Bible is showing us this morning and apply that to your spiritual life and you'll have a life full of milestones that fill you with joy. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.