Chazown with Pastor Craig GroeschelSample

Most people take a long time to die.
 (This is no way to start a Bible plan, you say.)
 But think about it. There are those few who go suddenly. Accidents. Heart attacks. Gang shootings. A soapy slip off the edge of the tub. But for you, chances are that at the end of your life, you will die in bed. Imagine yourself there, lying in bed and reflecting about chapters of your life story. What did my life add up to?
 Did I really matter?
 What did I live for?
 Why was it important that I existed?

Here’s one more thing to think about: the decisions you’re making today are making the bed you’ll lie in while you die. That’s why I wrote the book Chazown in the first place—to help you see your life differently and to see it the way your Creator saw it before you were born.

The word vision comes from the Hebrew word chazown (pronounced khaw- ZONE). Chazown starts with a letter that doesn’t exist in English. You pronounce it by making a hacking sound at the back of your throat, like you’re hawking and getting ready to spit. Try it. Say khaw-ZONE! But more important than the pronunciation is the word’s meaning—“dream,”  “revelation,” or “vision.” Where there is no chazown—no dream, no revelation, no vision, no sense of our created purpose—we perish.

Where there is no vision that you were created to have a growing personal relationship with your Creator, your inner being withers and dies.

Where there is no vision for a godly family, you have a 50 percent chance of ending up divorced.

Where there is no vision that your body is the temple of God’s Spirit—property on loan from Him—your physical health slips away.

Where there is no vision for a financially wise lifestyle, you can live in the richest country on earth and still be drowning in debt.

Where there is no vision for meaningful work, people live for five o’clock. They really just exist. Their goal is to survive—to pay bills, stay married, keep the kids out of jail ...

But you and I were made for so much more.

Over the next few days, we’ll search for your vision in three critical areas of your life. These areas are like personal Rorschach tests—you look at them long enough and prayerfully enough, and they’ll show you important clues to your God-given destiny.