spiritual dedication

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Like jumping off a bridge

Posted by revarant on November 6, 2012
Posted in: Faith, Faith in Action. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

As a child, swimming in a creek near our home was one of our favorite summer pastimes. All of my friends loved to jump off the bridge into the deep end of the creek. Not being able to swim, my father always had to jump with me causing me much grief from the other kids. Daddy tried everything to teach me, and I continued to swim like a rock. No matter what method or even how often daddy tried, he always wound up fishing me out after my failed attempt. I became so discouraged that I started looking for excuses not to go swimming with all my friends.

One day my father took me to the top of the bridge and said, “Son, you know everything you need to know to swim, you‘re just afraid to let go of me.” After some talking and lots of “fatherly persuasion” he convinced me to jump off the bridge alone, promising to be waiting in the deep end to help me. Just before he jumped into the water he said, “Son, I promise.” I can still feel my heart racing as I closed my eyes and hesitantly took that first step off the bridge‘s guard rail. It turned out to be one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.

We often let fear and past failures hold us back in life. Many times we know what our hearts are leading us to do, we are just too fearful to let go so the fun can begin. In Matthew 14, the disciples see Jesus walking on the water. Peter feels led to join Jesus on the water, and allows his faith in Jesus to give him the courage to step out of the boat. It doesn‘t go perfectly. Peter winds up sinking into the sea only to be fished out by Jesus. But for a few moments Peter also walked on the water. He made other mistakes, like lopping off the ear of a priest‘s servant when Jesus was arrested (John 18:10) and even denying knowing Jesus while Jesus was on trial (Matthew 26:69-75). Peter could have let fear of failing again hamper his faith and ministry. Instead he kept trying, and became a foundational teacher and example of faith.

There are times when we need to stop dreaming and start walking. There are times when we simply must follow the spiritual pull on our hearts, trusting God‘s promises and put our past behind us. The real joys of faith and life will never be found standing on the shores, but out on the water where Jesus is. Often times it simply takes the first step, almost like jumping off a bridge. Mistakes do slow us down, but they don‘t have to take us out of the game.

Excuses

Posted by revarant on May 29, 2012
Posted in: Faith in Action. Tagged: . Leave a comment

One Sunday morning, a few years ago, my children and I were driving down the street during a rainstorm. We passed a motorist who was clearly struggling with a flat tire. As we drove by, my daughter asked, “Aren‘t you going to help like you always do?”  Without even looking I said, “Well it‘s raining pretty hard and we need to get to church. Besides…I‘m not alone. It‘s too dangerous to help a stranger with you and you brothers in the vehicle with me.” Somewhat indignantly she responded, “You‘re right, the Bible only says that Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, it doesn‘t say that he did it in the rain.” At that moment my middle son sarcastically chimed in, “Yeah, I‘m sure Jesus might have done things differently if he had known how dangerous the cross was going to be.” It is annoying when a child has a smart mouth. It is just downright unfair when they are right.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus tended to the needs of those around him. In the Gospels, we see Jesus ignoring his own safety to heal a man with a withered hand, on the Sabbath and in front of the Pharisees who were conspiring against him (Matthew 12:9-14). Jesus can also be found pausing to heal a sick woman while he is urgently on his way to heal a dying girl (Matthew 9:18- 26). Helping those in need was always a priority for Jesus. We never see Jesus taking into consideration his own personal comfort, security, convenience or even safety before helping someone in need.

Too often we are guilty of being Christians of convenience. The time has to be right or our own circumstance must be perfect before we get involved. Christianity is not a clique of convenience, but a lifestyle of commitment that calls for us to look beyond ourselves in service and love. Your calendar or your checkbook should not gauge spiritual dedication and involvement.

Sometimes, we even invent excuses to rationalize our apathy. But no excuse is going to make something right that we should not have done, or make up for something that we should have done. What is right is always right, even if it takes us into the rain or uses our vacation funds. Making excuses may make us feel better, but it does not change the truth. Live always and at all times to make Christ known.