Who is Netflix’s biggest competition? Not other streaming services, but sleep.
“You get a show or a movie you’re really dying to watch, and you end up staying up late at night, so we actually compete with sleep,” said Neftlix CEO and cofounder Reed Hastings. of his No. 1 competitor. “And we’re winning!”
Competition sometimes comes from surprising places.
Who’s God’s biggest rival? You may think that it’s atheism or rival religions … but it’s actually something much simpler. Try…apple pie?
God’s Greatest Adversaries Are His Gifts
It’s possible for our souls to be so satisfied with the gifts of God that we have no hunger left for God, the one for whom our souls were created. John Piper nails it:
The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18–20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.
The good life can become a deadly substitute for God. The greatest threats to your soul are probably not bad things but good things, because those good things can take the place of God in your life. The greatest danger to your life may not be another god, but a closet full of clothes, a great RRSP, local craft beer, a vacation on YYZ Deals.
A Liberty Village Problem
We have life pretty good in Liberty Village. Sure, life is always challenging. But we’ve got some pretty nice condos, good restaurants, plenty of entertainment options, and more. All of these are good. In fact, they’re gifts from God. But they can distract us from what really matters.
Moses once said:
And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD… (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)
In other words, enjoy the good life if you have one — but don’t let it distract you from God!
Interested in learning more? Liberty Grace Church is a community of ordinary people who want to grow in their relationship with God. We’d love for you to join us.
