Many of us have spent enjoyable hours playing Trivial Pursuit^® with friends. It’s good, clean fun — sitting around a table, asking questions that have little consequence except to test our knowledge.

Today our world is crowded with billions of people whose lives are little more than a lifelong game of Trivial Pursuit^®. They try to be, look, and act important. However, their lives are merely a conglomeration of trivialities.

I’m often moved by the tremendous emptiness that exists in a world that has forgotten God, a population searching and scratching for something to ease the pain of emptiness inside — sunburns, overspending, hangovers, hour-long waits for a sixty-second thrill.

God wants to give us life in abundance, but so many in our world have rebelled against God’s plan for their lives, setting out on a journey that ends in despair. “There is no answer to man’s dilemma,” said Hemingway. “I live in a vacuum that is as lonely as a radio tube when the batteries are dead. And there is no current to plug into.”

Gordon Dahl said, “Most middle class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship. Values get distorted, relationships disintegrate, and lifestyles resemble a cast of characters in search of a plot.”

Life to some seems like a picture frame wrapped around nothing — empty. Every human being is to frame the image of God. We are His masterpieces, His works of art. But without God and His purpose for our lives, the frame is empty. We can paint the frames and clean them, but the real meaning is gone, and life is trivial — casual emptiness, trivial pursuit.

And what about all the possessions you’re accumulating in life? It’s all right to have money and means, but when those things become the primary pursuit of your life, you’ve been tricked by the temporary. “For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits” (James 1:11) — trivial pursuits.

Our lives are busy; our “to do” list is full. Some folks think a full schedule solves the problem of an empty life. Busyness replaces contemplation of the important questions in life.

“Oh,” you say, “That’s not me. All I want is some happiness in life. After all, don’t my inalienable rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” But happiness is never found by pursuing it. It’s the byproduct of living according to God’s terms.

God is not a trivial God, the Bible is not a trivial Book, and our lives shouldn’t be trivial but triumphant. We have another set of pursuits. The Lord says, “But you, O man of God, flee these things and...pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22).

The Bible says, “Always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). “Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14). “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1).

Trivial Pursuit is a good way to pass the time among good friends. But the answers to life aren’t found in factoids printed on game cards. They’re found between the covers of the infallible Word of God, and they reflect the wisdom of the infinite heavenly Father who has a distinct plan and purpose for our lives. God’s plan centers on Jesus Christ.

Knowing God, living righteously, exhibiting faith, love, and peace — those are tremendous pursuits, and seeking those things is no game. Seek Him, and pursue His will for your life.

“For all [the trivial pursuits of this] world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who [pursues] the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:16-17).

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Dr. Jeremiah is the founder and host of Turning Point for God and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. For more information on Turning Point, go to www.DavidJeremiah.org.

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