The world has always been teeming with interesting things. No matter what liking or penchant one had, a wide variety of compelling experiences was set before him to be taken and enjoyed. However, what has been is now multiplied several times over and the choices we face leave us dumbfounded. If television and radio had revolutionized our agenda, Internet has filled the remaining gaps and more than ever before the selection sweeping over us challenges our schedule as well as our independence. But how many of these objects of interest are truly profitable? This is the question I will attempt to tackle in this brief series.
The nature of the case
As we enter this consideration it is important to notice we are not facing an exclusive choice between two possibilities. It is not an either-or election. Granting that a huge number of interesting things are absolutely unprofitable, others are not. In fact, as we will see, the most interesting entity is also, and by far, the most profitable one.
About objects of interest
One of the most fundamental characteristics an object of interest has resides in its power of attraction. Like the lure draws the fish, and as there are different baits for different fishes, the object of interest causes the subject to move—almost unconsciously—from point A to point B. Thus mesmerized, the interested person tends to gravitate towards, and ultimately upon, the interesting entity. Soon enough the fascination triggers a process of metamorphosis, and the free agent is slowly transformed into a sort of captive, captivated—mind you—by the prison keeping him in detainment; a very subtle and powerful prison having no need of bars and gates since the object of interest has the power to abolish the prisoner’s desire to escape.
The law of interest can be stated this way: The more interesting an object gets, the less interesting adjacent objects become. This explains why the things interesting us are so important. They form a sort of mold determining our progression in the realm of being. In other words, we are shaped by what we like.
A state of normality
God has created man with several needs. In the realm of the physical we need air, food, drink, etc. Emotionally we need love, security, values, fulfillment and so on. Mentally we need balance, orientation, rest, as well as healthy activities. In the sphere of the intellect we need answers, knowledge, logic, just to scrape the surface. But we also need objects of interest. This need is absolutely normal. It is basic to human life and therefore existed before the Fall. Obviously, Adam and Eve were experiencing a multiplicity of interests while dwelling in Eden; and it was so because God never intended to be their sole object of interest.
The Christian who tries to make God his unique object of interest has not understood God’s intention. Such a person will not only be unpractical but also frustrated and frustrating. Imagine a man working as a mechanic attempting to have no interest in mechanics. Or a wife cooking everyday, but apparently forbidden to have interest in cooking. Or children ordered to study piano, yet exhorted to have no interest in music. As we all understand this would make no sense, and obviously it is not what God requires.
God’s requirement
To have other objects of interest besides God is not the result of the Fall. But to have something else rather than God as our main object of interest is surely related to it. After all, if God does not engender fascination in us something is obviously defective with our perception of spiritual reality.
The person who perceives God, perceives the highest possible source of interest. He, above all else, can fascinate and captivate; and contrary to limited objects He is infinite. Consequently the person captivated by His beauty and goodness experiences no confinements. Such person has literally entered a state of quintessential freedom where he can contemplate the manifestation of enthralling perfection. Hence God becomes his main source of interest, not by discipline but by inspiration.
If movie stars arouse adulation and football players idolization, how much more God? All else becomes subsidiary at the light of His glory and praise. To experience God is to secure the highest possible attainment and meaningful enjoyment. His presence transcends words or any other means of communication (2 Corinthians 12:4). I am not talking of mere religion, but of an authentic perception of the divine, of a gracious unveiling leading to admiration and adoration.
A secondary effect of love
The true lover of God will also experience a rise of new interests, for when a person falls in love he naturally begins to develop interest for the things the person he loves is interested in. Maybe a young man never had interest in art, but since the lady he loves is fond of art, an interest for art begins to germinate in him. If she loves swimming, soon enough, he begins to delight in swimming. This is one of the side effects love generates. It promotes new interests.
When it comes to God, His interests are never detached from values. Such entities as people, love, justice, mercy, and truth are among the existents God is interested in. Hence the person loving God experiences a transmutation. A shift takes place and the unprofitable is slowly replaced by the beneficial. In addition, the objects of interest become more meaningful and healthier. Consequently what is profitable becomes interesting and vice versa. In brief, love has the power to scrape off the coating of useless attractions and disclose what is truly profitable and interesting. As the saying goes: Once we let go of the things that don’t matter, we discover all the things that really do.
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