Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 14, 2008
“Take the Shopping Fast Challenge”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
It was the first time I ever heard of Bose speakers.
My high school buddy Bill invited me over to check them out.
He put on an album by Mannheim Steamroller just to show off the pristine sound, and I was impressed.
Then I went back home to my 8-track player and one speaker the size of an ant.
Hey, at least I had the sweet new 8-track from the Commodores.
Did you ever stand in line to buy a group’s album on the first day it came out?
Did you ever go see a movie at midnight on opening night?
Did you ever pour over a Christmas catalog and go ga-ga over all the new toys?
What about the iPhone? Or the PlayStation?
Come on ladies. Have you ever walked through a clothing store and gotten excited by the new clothes?
Men, have you wandered through Home Depot and lusted over the new tools?
There is just something about new. Like the new ride at the theme park.
Who wants to play with Woody when you’ve got Buzz Lightyear?
I just read a new study and here’s what it said, “When you are faced with something new or thrilling, the brain’s pleasure centers get fired up.”
Then it said this, “When you shop, everything you see is new.”
Let me go over that again. It said when we find something new, we experience pleasure. And when we shop, everything we see is new.
It’s human nature to get excited about new things. And when we go shopping, everything we see is new, so it’s only natural that we get excited about shopping.
The study went on to say that, for that very reason, shopping can become an addiction. They say shopping makes you feel good by flooding your brain with dopamine. It gives you a “shopping high.”
But then what? When the shopping high wears off, the study says you end up with a somewhat empty feeling a few hours later.
“But Doug, I don’t like to shop.”
I think the main reason people don’t like to shop is because they can’t have everything they want. Or they put it on credit cards or break the bank or whatever, and the money problems kill the shopping high.
But would you like to shop if you could buy what you wanted?
That was King Solomon’s situation. He could have what he wanted, and listen to what he said in Ecclesiastes 2:10, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired…”
Every time the shopping high wore off, Solomon got another fix. Whatever he wanted, he got. He said, “I refused my heart no pleasure.”
Wow, he must have been the happiest person on earth!
Now look at Ecclesiastes 2:11. After living from one shopping high to the next, Solomon finally said, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done…everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
How could that be? He gained everything he wanted under the sun. Why did he say he had gained nothing?
Because once the “thrill of the new” wears off, you realize it didn’t really matter.
Two years ago I went on a shopping fast. For two years I bought myself nothing. No clothes or shoes or books or CDs or tickets or trinkets or electronics. Nothing new for two years.
First of all, I realized that, even though I was never a big shopper, my desire for new things did have a bit of a grip on me. I’m excited by new stuff as much as the next guy.
But my shopping fast broke that. I realized that it didn’t really matter. It made no difference at all that I wore all the same clothes for two years. The only difference was that shopping lost its hold on me. I was set free in an area in which I didn’t even know there was a problem.
What it boiled down to was self denial. I was denying myself the pleasure of shopping in order to draw near to God. It was setting aside one big thing in my life, pushing it aside to make room for more of the Lord.
In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
So let me ask you, do you think you could do the shopping fast? It means denying yourself for a period of time.
Pray about it. Say, “Lord, would you want me to do a shopping fast, to buy myself nothing for a period of time?” Then ask Him how long He wants you to commit to.
It’s not a matter of self improvement. It’s not for your budget or anything else. It is simply a way to deny yourself; a way to set aside one thing in your life in order to pick up your cross and follow Jesus.
So there it is. Your question of the day – will you take the shopping fast challenge?
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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