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My hobbies: what to choose? All my life under the gaze of God

Ready to review your schedule? In a world where we are surrounded by demands of all kinds, but where the duration of time is not extendable, it is legitimate to wonder what place our leisure activities can take in our daily life. Especially if we want to live under the gaze of God. This is a serious question that David Brown has explored with great creativity, making it a fascinating and inspiring subject. In this book he deals with the occupation of our time, the purpose of our lives, leisure and pleasure, our choices, and our involvement in the church and in society. There is no need to harbor unfounded guilt about our interests, but let us realize that time has its limits and that our priorities shape it. David Brown was general secretary of the GBU for several years. He is currently pastor of an evangelical Protestant Church in Paris in the 17th arrondissement, and responsible for the Evangelization Commission of the CNEF (National Council of Evangelicals of France). He loves travel, football, cinema, art and literature, and he is passionate about thinking about the interface between the Bible and French culture.

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Contents :

  • Introduction. Leisure: what to choose?
  • Constrained time
  • Leisure, leisure and pleasure
  • We live in an abnormal world
  • Living our history
  • Time to develop our relationship with God
  • Time to rest, to do nothing
  • Time for relationships with others
  • Time to live our humanity
  • Time to live our creativity
  • The rhythm of our lives
  • Conclusion
Introduction. Leisure: what to choose? “Before ending the show, one last question for our guest: Paul, what are your favorite hobbies 1 ? » The apostle breathed deeply, time to think about this question for a few seconds. Why do I always get asked this question on TV? Does the reporter think I don't have one? Is it because my contemporaries define themselves somewhat by their leisure activities? Would revealing these hobbies allow me to “be all things to all people in order to save some” 2 ? Would telling about my hobbies make me seem more human, closer to non-Christians by revealing the real Paul? How to answer this question? The Bible is therefore opposed to asceticism (the renunciation of all material or physical pleasure) and goes so far as to describe as “doctrines of demons” those who oppose the pleasures of the table and of marriage (1 Timothy 4.1- 3). The next verse states: Everything that God has created is good and nothing should be rejected, as long as it is taken in an attitude of gratitude. Leisure is one of the pleasures of life, but another text from the New Testament puts the search for pleasure into perspective: “Know that in the last days there will be difficult times, because men will be selfish…” and Paul lists a good fifteen human faults, ending with “lovers of pleasure rather than of God” (2 Timothy 3.1-4). The Christian first finds his pleasure in God, following the example of the psalmist Asaph who cried: Who else do I have in heaven? And on earth I delight only in you (Psalm 73:25). We must therefore prioritize our affections and give priority to God. Pleasure is not a goal in itself but an outcome of our relationship with God. However, there is a time for everything, as Ecclesiastes emphasizes. There is a season for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to lament and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). In this book we will discover the place of leisure in the life of the Christian 3 . For him, there is no sacred/profane division because he is called to strive towards an ultimate goal in all his activities seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day: And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, expressing through him your gratitude to God the Father (Colossians 3.17). 1. This introduction was inspired by an article by Phillip Jensen in The Briefing newspaper in February 2007. 2. Allusion to 1 Corinthians 9.19-23. 3. Since I wrote this book from this perspective, I clarify that the pronoun “we” that I use generally means “myself and the other disciples of Jesus Christ”.
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