It is 3:25 a.m. and I am getting ready to leave for DFW airport in one hour to fly to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where I will be on mission for the Lord for the next eight days along with twelve other people from our church. This will make my sixth mission trip to Canada. Why do I keep going? Why do others in our church have a passion to go to Africa and we have one who is spending his whole summer in Tokyo, Japan?
I dread leaving my family. My youngest son Turner prayed last night that he would not miss me too much while I am gone. It is never easy having to leave him behind along with his mother and brothers. I waited until close to 11:00 p.m. to pack my suitcase. It is never easy to make these trips. Why do I keep doing it? It is very simple. [Matt 28:19-20]. I am called to go into all the world to make disciples. At this season part of the fulfillment of that call is to keep going to Canada. In the future it very well might mean going to some other countries.
We are called to go. So I pack my suitcase and get my passport ready and I keep going. I never know what all will happen on these trips. I just keep going in faith and trust the Lord with the results. I urge you to keep going. Keep going to your friends. Keep going to your family. You don’t have to get on a plane to go on a mission trip. You can be on mission for God right where you live.
May we live to keep making the name of Jesus famous. May we live to keep being on mission for Him. May we always keep going wherever He calls. Here we are Lord, send us anywhere to do anything for you.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I Was Born to do This
I had just finished preaching a passionate message to a group of students at a camp this summer when I stepped off the platform exhausted and exhilarated. I made my way to the back of the room and told a lady whom I had met at the camp that I was born to do that. It is my sweet spot. I never feel any more alive than I do when I am standing before a group of people preaching God’s Word. That is what I was born to do.
I stood in the back of that room with perspiration beading up on my forehead and relished in the thought that God had once again allowed me play a part in His redemptive plan. I don’t know of anything more fulfilling than that. Finally I sat down and breathed a sigh of contentment knowing I am fulfilling my God ordained destiny.
You were born to do something as well. If you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ you were born with purpose. [Eph 2:10] declares it so. Before time began you were born with destiny and purpose. I cannot tell you what either of those is but there is something in this life you were meant to do and it is the sweet spot of your life as Max Lucado wrote in his book The Cure for the Uncommon Life.
Everybody has a sweet spot and something they were born to do. Let me ask you, what is it that you do that makes you really feel alive? When are you the most fulfilled in life? If you were to ask me that same question I would answer without hesitation that I feel most alive when I am preaching and writing. It is hard to explain the joy I get from both of those activities. When I am studying for a message and preaching at First Baptist Church or somewhere else like in Saskatchewan or a youth camp I am ALIVE! When I am expounding a text of scripture, pleading with sinners to come to Jesus Christ in repentance for salvation, or passionately proclaiming life changing truth I know I am doing what I was born to do. I have preached in ramshackle buildings in Guiness, Cuba, in living rooms before less than a dozen people, in numerous churches, in Civic Centers before over a thousand, on college campuses, in the mountains, near the ocean, and over and over again I have known I was born to do that. It really doesn’t matter where. The fulfillment is not necessarily related to geography. Some people continually change jobs looking for their sweet spot when what they really need to come to grips with is what were they born to do?
Equally I feel alive when I sitting at my computer hammering out another book or an article for the paper. I get so absorbed in writing sometimes it is like going to another dimension. I call it getting into the zone. It doesn’t matter if I am writing a book, a blog, an article, or material to be used somewhere I will be traveling to preach, I was born to do that. I write because I have to. Ideas and thoughts continually bounce around in my mind and heart and beg to be released to the printed page. I was born to do this.
Like a mechanic who gets satisfaction from diagnosing the problem in a car and repairing it, or a nurse who finds fulfillment in giving care to sick patients, or the teacher who sighs contentedly after teaching a lesson and seeing the light bulbs go off in the minds of students, or a professional athlete who makes a play that changes the outcome of the game, we were born to do something. Some were born to cook, some excel in the business world, others rise to the top working with their hands, while still others can play beautiful music, and we were born to do something.
When you take that fact and accompany it with joining God in His global purpose to redeem mankind, you find your sweet spot in life. That is when life is really worth living. If you have never experienced this it will be hard to explain what I am talking about. Watching someone operate in their sweet spot is a beautiful thing to behold. It can be awe inspiring. Billy Graham preaching in a packed football stadium is a prime example. He was born to preach the gospel to the masses and he has faithfully executed that calling for many decades.
I started writing this early this morning before the sun came up and lost track of time. That is what happens when you were born to do something. You can get so focused on doing what you were created to do that you forget about time, your surroundings, and simply get lost in your work. You were created in Christ to do good works. It is your job to sit before Him and to ask Him what you were born to do. When you find the answer, your life will take on a whole other dimension and you will know the joy of living for a purpose greater than your own gratification. You will discover life in the sweet spot. You will do what you were meant to do and celebrate contentedness like you have never known. When you discover your purpose and join God in it, you too will say one day, “I was born to do this!”
I stood in the back of that room with perspiration beading up on my forehead and relished in the thought that God had once again allowed me play a part in His redemptive plan. I don’t know of anything more fulfilling than that. Finally I sat down and breathed a sigh of contentment knowing I am fulfilling my God ordained destiny.
You were born to do something as well. If you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ you were born with purpose. [Eph 2:10] declares it so. Before time began you were born with destiny and purpose. I cannot tell you what either of those is but there is something in this life you were meant to do and it is the sweet spot of your life as Max Lucado wrote in his book The Cure for the Uncommon Life.
Everybody has a sweet spot and something they were born to do. Let me ask you, what is it that you do that makes you really feel alive? When are you the most fulfilled in life? If you were to ask me that same question I would answer without hesitation that I feel most alive when I am preaching and writing. It is hard to explain the joy I get from both of those activities. When I am studying for a message and preaching at First Baptist Church or somewhere else like in Saskatchewan or a youth camp I am ALIVE! When I am expounding a text of scripture, pleading with sinners to come to Jesus Christ in repentance for salvation, or passionately proclaiming life changing truth I know I am doing what I was born to do. I have preached in ramshackle buildings in Guiness, Cuba, in living rooms before less than a dozen people, in numerous churches, in Civic Centers before over a thousand, on college campuses, in the mountains, near the ocean, and over and over again I have known I was born to do that. It really doesn’t matter where. The fulfillment is not necessarily related to geography. Some people continually change jobs looking for their sweet spot when what they really need to come to grips with is what were they born to do?
Equally I feel alive when I sitting at my computer hammering out another book or an article for the paper. I get so absorbed in writing sometimes it is like going to another dimension. I call it getting into the zone. It doesn’t matter if I am writing a book, a blog, an article, or material to be used somewhere I will be traveling to preach, I was born to do that. I write because I have to. Ideas and thoughts continually bounce around in my mind and heart and beg to be released to the printed page. I was born to do this.
Like a mechanic who gets satisfaction from diagnosing the problem in a car and repairing it, or a nurse who finds fulfillment in giving care to sick patients, or the teacher who sighs contentedly after teaching a lesson and seeing the light bulbs go off in the minds of students, or a professional athlete who makes a play that changes the outcome of the game, we were born to do something. Some were born to cook, some excel in the business world, others rise to the top working with their hands, while still others can play beautiful music, and we were born to do something.
When you take that fact and accompany it with joining God in His global purpose to redeem mankind, you find your sweet spot in life. That is when life is really worth living. If you have never experienced this it will be hard to explain what I am talking about. Watching someone operate in their sweet spot is a beautiful thing to behold. It can be awe inspiring. Billy Graham preaching in a packed football stadium is a prime example. He was born to preach the gospel to the masses and he has faithfully executed that calling for many decades.
I started writing this early this morning before the sun came up and lost track of time. That is what happens when you were born to do something. You can get so focused on doing what you were created to do that you forget about time, your surroundings, and simply get lost in your work. You were created in Christ to do good works. It is your job to sit before Him and to ask Him what you were born to do. When you find the answer, your life will take on a whole other dimension and you will know the joy of living for a purpose greater than your own gratification. You will discover life in the sweet spot. You will do what you were meant to do and celebrate contentedness like you have never known. When you discover your purpose and join God in it, you too will say one day, “I was born to do this!”
Monday, June 22, 2009
Leave It on the Field
I just returned from ministering at a leadership camp called Super Summer. We challenged ninety four students in our group to leave it on the field by giving God their best in worship, listening to Bible Studies, and giving their all on the recreation field. Despite the heat, humidity, and the grueling schedule those students and seventeen adults gave their all and we brought home the spirit flag on the first day.
Next, we challenged those students to leave it all on the field for God once they returned home. What does leaving it on the field really mean? I am sure many people would define it differently but for me it means giving maximum effort and when it is all said and done you are able to walk away knowing you gave your best, you held nothing back, and you expended all your energy in a worthy cause.
We are living in a society where fewer and fewer people know what it means to leave it on the field. We have learned to do just enough to get by. We become adapt at cutting corners, accepting mediocrity, and being content with less than excellence. You notice this in restaurants where wait staff seem bothered if you need their services or in stores where sales clerks seem put out if they have to actually offer you some assistance. This can also be seen in hospitals where nurses are not prompt in responding to the patients call button when pressed and by manufacturers who are called into question when selling faulty merchandise.
I notice it on the athletic field and in the weight room where fewer people give all they have in the cause of victory. Leaving it all on the field requires perspiration, leadership, inspiration, perseverance, and the indomitable will to not quit regardless of what the odds are. Leaving it on the field means inspiring others to do the same by setting the example.
I wonder what would happen if parents would leave it all on the field in nurturing and training their children. Teachers would not have to spend so much time disciplining unruly children in the classroom who have not been disciplined at the home because some parents take the path of least resistance. If parents gave their all, they would invest in children seeing their potential rather than seeing children as unwanted intrusions.
If employees left it on the field as well as the employers we would not be facing this economic downturn. Both owner and workers would work mutually for the benefit of the other and goods and services would be produced offering excellent value for the customer. What we often see instead is corporate offices thinking only of themselves with bigger salaries and more demands on the employees while not compensating those employees fairly. This is bad for morale and I don’t think you have to walk very far to see there are many disgruntled workers who feel taken advantage of and as a result they give half hearted effort and do just enough to get the job done and get a pay check. Thankfully there are exceptions to this rule.
Christians are not exempt either. Just enough devotion and service are given to God so as to blend in with the rest of the crowds in church. Mediocre service and worship is given in response to maximum sacrifice and love poured out when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus’ redemptive death on the cross is stunning. I have sat there at the foot of the cross in my mind many an hour contemplating what exactly He did for you and me. He took our sin, our punishment, God’s wrath, and bore all of it so that you and I might be reconciled to God and given everlasting life. Simply amazing. [Rom 5:8-9]
If we are really leave it on the field for Christ what does that mean? It means [Rom 12:1] In response to the incredible mercy of God we lay our whole lives and our physical bodies on the altar as an act of worship. We sincerely cry out to God that we will go anywhere and do anything for Him. We humbly offer our lives as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto Him leaving it all on the field of service for Him. Isn’t that the point of [Col 3:23-24]. Let us not be hypocrites who want the maximum reward from Jesus in forgiveness of sins and everlasting life but only wanting to give minimum effort in response. Leave it all on the field. Pray hard. Love deeply. Testify loudly. Give generously. Serve passionately. Leave it all on the field. Leave this life with no regrets, no shame, and no excuses.
Give Him your all. All of your days should be expended in your desire to know Him and to serve Him. Leave no doubts as to where your allegiance lies. March under the banner of God’s amazing grace and beckon others to join your triumphal march.
While leading our yellow school on the recreation field I made mention to some students a few times that it was a “two sweat day.” It had been a while since I had last felt the oppressive sultry heat of an East Texas summer which caused the sweat to bubble up on my forearms and beads to run down my back. What I meant was that as I jumped, cheered, rallied the troops, and called for our school to leave it on the field, I sweated through two shirts every day. I sweated through my white Hanes under shirt as well as perspiring through my yellow t-shirts I wore over the undershirt. When I left the recreation field every day I could not have been anymore soaked if you have squirted me with a water hose. Both my shirts were wringing wet and my hats were drenched from the perspiration from my head and brow.
God wants us to give all we have making it a two sweat day as we leave it on the field. He sees all and will reward such effort, if not in this lifetime, it will be rewarded in eternity. Leave it all on the field in your next worship service, your job performance, your parenting, and your living. Jesus deserves it.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Road Trip
I am only a few hours from packing my suit case and hitting the road again for the start of my busy summer. We just finished VBS less than twelve hours ago and I will soon be driving Interstate 20 east to Marshall, TX where I will spend the next week ministering to a couple hundred high school students.
This is not just another road trip. This is a spiritual pilgrimage for me. It was at this very camp when I first began to feel the tug of the Holy Spirit on my heart that I was supposed to be a preacher. This shy insecure high school student had no plans to be a public speaker. I resisted. At one point I actually sat in the closet in my dormitory room confused and wondering if I was really being called to preach. Truth be known I hated public speaking. God had other plans and so when I go back to this camp I always wonder how many other young people like me are sitting under the teaching of the word of God.
Another reason this road trip is extremely sentimental for me is that the very auditorium I will be preaching in tomorrow is a place where I have met with God in significant ways in the past. I recall one painful season when I lay on the floor in prayer and a puddle of tears. It was during a excruciatingly confusing time in my life and I was pleading for God to pull me out of a very painful season of life. As I walk back on that campus my circumstances are different today and I have seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That will be the message I will preach tomorrow morning. I am reminded in my own life that waiting on the Lord and trusting Him to be faithful has brought me full circle and others need to hear that same message.
Read what David wrote in Ps 27:13-14. “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”
Some of you reading this have lost heart and you are about to give up. You are on the verge of doing something very foolish as you contemplate taking matters into your own hands and not waiting for God. I am telling you from first hand experience that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living if you keep waiting and trusting. I know it does not feel like and when you look around and you can’t see any evidence of it but it is still true. He will come through for you. It might not be today. It might not even be this month or year. He will not forsake you through the tough times though and in time He will alter your situation.
So I am challenging you to take a road trip. Take a road trip in your mind and recall the last time you were in a really tough spot and things looked bleak but in the end God saved the day. You may have to keep taking that road trip over and over again to remind yourself that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for Him.
In a very short while I will pack my clothes, my Bible and some books and make the four hour journey east. There will be times when I drive in silence and meditate on what the Lord has done in my life since the last time I was on the campus of East Texas Baptist University. It will be a wonderful road trip but the spiritual pilgrimage is more meaningful than traveling in a vehicle. You and I can do that anytime in our minds through meditation and reflection. Do you need to take a road trip? Let Ps 27:13-14 be your road map to guide you on your way.
This is not just another road trip. This is a spiritual pilgrimage for me. It was at this very camp when I first began to feel the tug of the Holy Spirit on my heart that I was supposed to be a preacher. This shy insecure high school student had no plans to be a public speaker. I resisted. At one point I actually sat in the closet in my dormitory room confused and wondering if I was really being called to preach. Truth be known I hated public speaking. God had other plans and so when I go back to this camp I always wonder how many other young people like me are sitting under the teaching of the word of God.
Another reason this road trip is extremely sentimental for me is that the very auditorium I will be preaching in tomorrow is a place where I have met with God in significant ways in the past. I recall one painful season when I lay on the floor in prayer and a puddle of tears. It was during a excruciatingly confusing time in my life and I was pleading for God to pull me out of a very painful season of life. As I walk back on that campus my circumstances are different today and I have seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That will be the message I will preach tomorrow morning. I am reminded in my own life that waiting on the Lord and trusting Him to be faithful has brought me full circle and others need to hear that same message.
Read what David wrote in Ps 27:13-14. “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”
Some of you reading this have lost heart and you are about to give up. You are on the verge of doing something very foolish as you contemplate taking matters into your own hands and not waiting for God. I am telling you from first hand experience that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living if you keep waiting and trusting. I know it does not feel like and when you look around and you can’t see any evidence of it but it is still true. He will come through for you. It might not be today. It might not even be this month or year. He will not forsake you through the tough times though and in time He will alter your situation.
So I am challenging you to take a road trip. Take a road trip in your mind and recall the last time you were in a really tough spot and things looked bleak but in the end God saved the day. You may have to keep taking that road trip over and over again to remind yourself that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for Him.
In a very short while I will pack my clothes, my Bible and some books and make the four hour journey east. There will be times when I drive in silence and meditate on what the Lord has done in my life since the last time I was on the campus of East Texas Baptist University. It will be a wonderful road trip but the spiritual pilgrimage is more meaningful than traveling in a vehicle. You and I can do that anytime in our minds through meditation and reflection. Do you need to take a road trip? Let Ps 27:13-14 be your road map to guide you on your way.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Adjustments
I have been contemplating adjustments as of late. We all have to make them. Our bodies continually have to readjust to the temperature outside. As the heat intensifies and the thermometer continues to climb we have to get acclimated. With the help of GPS devices we can now make adjustments in our travel plans depending on variables like road construction, traffic accidents, or inclement weather.
Life is a series of adjustments. As our body ages we have to make adjustments in what we eat and what activities we can and cannot do. My mind tells me I can still play basketball with my sons like I was twenty two but at the end of every game my knees remind me that I am forty two. Eating pepperoni pizza late at night doesn’t sit as well in the digestive state as it did when I was a teenager.
To adjust to something as defined by the Webster’s New International Dictionary is, “to adapt or conform as to a new environment – to arrange or regulate so as to fit, match, or produce a desired result.” Synonyms for the word adjust include; adapt,alter,calibrate,modify, and tune. We are continually faced with the challenge of adapting and conforming to our circumstances. When prices at the gas pump soar we have to adjust our budgets accordingly. When the other team is succeeding, the coaches make half time adjustments to produce the desired result of winning the game. When the child does not comply we are forced to take away privileges. Adjustments are sewn into the fabric of our lives.
If making life adjustments is a normal part of living from the cradle to the grave why do we have such a hard time when God calls us to make adjustments? There is no doubt about it, God does call people to adjust the course of their lives, modify behaviors and habits, and to fine tune our priorities. Let me illustrate with a few examples from the Bible. “And as He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And they immediately left the nets and followed Him.” [Mark 1:16-18]
Let’s try and wrap our minds around the adjustments Peter and Andrew were called by Jesus to make. They were called to change their profession, to change the direction of their lives, and to leave the safe and familiar to follow a stranger into the unknown. Suppose the Lord showed up in your life and simply said, “Follow me.” Suppose that following Him meant great adjustments in your life and those adjustments affected more than just you but also the people near you. Would you follow?
That is exactly what Abram was called to do in [Gen 12:1]. “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you.” God shows up in Abram’s life uninvited and calls Abram to make major adjustments that not only affect Him but affect His wife and other relatives as well. Jesus did the same thing in Paul’s life in Acts 9. Paul was called by Jesus to a life and ministry of hardship and suffering but Paul followed. Paul’s adjustment to his ministry can be summed up in what we read in [Acts 20:24]. “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
Some adjustments God calls us to make seem minor as our character is refined and we seek to live in holiness. Other adjustments are more major as God calls us to take steps of faith trusting Him for a desired outcome. Ever so often the Lord calls us to make adjustments that altar the whole course of our lives like getting married or having children or pursuing a different career path.
Adjustments are part of life. This past week while riding my bike I began to notice my gears did not change as smoothly and there were several noises coming from the bike I had never heard before. This alerted me that I need to get the bike into the shop for some adjustments and a tune up. We do the same things for our vehicles but why do we balk when God steps into our lives and calls for adjustments. You cannot be a true disciple of Jesus Christ if you are unwilling to make the adjustments He calls you to make. Some of those adjustments are about as fun as sculpture coming in with a chisel to refine and shape us. Sometimes those adjustments feel more like a chainsaw cutting away what the dross. As a disciple and in response to His grace which has offered us forgiveness of sin and life everlasting with Him, I must submit to the adjustments even when they hurt and trust that in the long run they are in my best interest.
I want to conclude this article with a few verses from the mouth of Jesus. I don’t think any further commentary will be needed. “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” [Matt 16:24-26]
Life is a series of adjustments. As our body ages we have to make adjustments in what we eat and what activities we can and cannot do. My mind tells me I can still play basketball with my sons like I was twenty two but at the end of every game my knees remind me that I am forty two. Eating pepperoni pizza late at night doesn’t sit as well in the digestive state as it did when I was a teenager.
To adjust to something as defined by the Webster’s New International Dictionary is, “to adapt or conform as to a new environment – to arrange or regulate so as to fit, match, or produce a desired result.” Synonyms for the word adjust include; adapt,alter,calibrate,modify, and tune. We are continually faced with the challenge of adapting and conforming to our circumstances. When prices at the gas pump soar we have to adjust our budgets accordingly. When the other team is succeeding, the coaches make half time adjustments to produce the desired result of winning the game. When the child does not comply we are forced to take away privileges. Adjustments are sewn into the fabric of our lives.
If making life adjustments is a normal part of living from the cradle to the grave why do we have such a hard time when God calls us to make adjustments? There is no doubt about it, God does call people to adjust the course of their lives, modify behaviors and habits, and to fine tune our priorities. Let me illustrate with a few examples from the Bible. “And as He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And they immediately left the nets and followed Him.” [Mark 1:16-18]
Let’s try and wrap our minds around the adjustments Peter and Andrew were called by Jesus to make. They were called to change their profession, to change the direction of their lives, and to leave the safe and familiar to follow a stranger into the unknown. Suppose the Lord showed up in your life and simply said, “Follow me.” Suppose that following Him meant great adjustments in your life and those adjustments affected more than just you but also the people near you. Would you follow?
That is exactly what Abram was called to do in [Gen 12:1]. “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you.” God shows up in Abram’s life uninvited and calls Abram to make major adjustments that not only affect Him but affect His wife and other relatives as well. Jesus did the same thing in Paul’s life in Acts 9. Paul was called by Jesus to a life and ministry of hardship and suffering but Paul followed. Paul’s adjustment to his ministry can be summed up in what we read in [Acts 20:24]. “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
Some adjustments God calls us to make seem minor as our character is refined and we seek to live in holiness. Other adjustments are more major as God calls us to take steps of faith trusting Him for a desired outcome. Ever so often the Lord calls us to make adjustments that altar the whole course of our lives like getting married or having children or pursuing a different career path.
Adjustments are part of life. This past week while riding my bike I began to notice my gears did not change as smoothly and there were several noises coming from the bike I had never heard before. This alerted me that I need to get the bike into the shop for some adjustments and a tune up. We do the same things for our vehicles but why do we balk when God steps into our lives and calls for adjustments. You cannot be a true disciple of Jesus Christ if you are unwilling to make the adjustments He calls you to make. Some of those adjustments are about as fun as sculpture coming in with a chisel to refine and shape us. Sometimes those adjustments feel more like a chainsaw cutting away what the dross. As a disciple and in response to His grace which has offered us forgiveness of sin and life everlasting with Him, I must submit to the adjustments even when they hurt and trust that in the long run they are in my best interest.
I want to conclude this article with a few verses from the mouth of Jesus. I don’t think any further commentary will be needed. “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” [Matt 16:24-26]
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Last Set
Taylor and I just returned from a workout on the track and in the weight room. We ran some sprints and then did a leg work out. The sweat beaded up on our foreheads and began to soak our shirts and we pounded the track sprint after sprint.
In the weight room we did a leg work out followed by some abdominal exercises. The abdominal work out is never fun and we usually save it for the last. It consists of a series of exercises done in rapid fire succession without rest until the whole series is done. After a short rest we repeat the whole cycle. Today we decided we would three different series of abdominal work.
By this time our shirts looked we had been rinsed off with a water hose. It was after 8:00 p.m. and we were starving. After we finished the second series of torso work, I looked over at Taylor and smiled saying, “The last set. I love it when we get to the last set.” The last set means the end is in sight, victory is within grasp, and the goal has almost been attained.
You may notice I said the goal has almost been attained. Many times when we come to the last set of anything in life it is like facing a fork in the road. Some people face the last set of work, school, work outs, service for God and just want to finish the task. In our fatigue it is awfully tempting to give less than our best effort on the last set. The path is the path of finishing the last set with all the energy we have left. Either way a choice has to be made about how you finish the last set.
Many of you who are reading this are facing the last set. It might be in your marriage, with your children, dealing with difficulties at work, or in completing some task you set out with gusto to accomplish. I have seen many people cash it in on the last set. Instead of reaching down deep and finishing the last set with determination and grit many are contented to go through the motions or worse yet to be content without finishing the last set all together.
Much can be determined about people if you watch how they finish the last set. I have watched many athletes and people in the arena of life simply quit when the going got hard. Even when the end was in sight and rest along with refueling were in sight, more than one has opted to throw in the towel and walk away without finishing the last set.
I’ll be honest with you. The Christian life is hard. The temptations are relentless. The trials bombard us unceasingly. The tests of faith seem innumerable. The challenge is to finish the last set in prayer, the last set in Bible study, in loving people who do not always act lovingly, and the conquest to believe God for the impossible. All of these things are down right wearying. Who has not been tempted to take the path of least resistance and coast to the finish if we even have the gumption to finish at all? The last set of anything can be extremely difficult and our energy reserves are usually depleted at this point. In the Christian life the path is not always rosy with strewn with picnics and scenic benches. It is more like war or a marathon and the going is often HARD!
As Taylor I faced our last set, I thought about taking it easy but then I looked at a ten pound weight I was using for one of the exercises lying on the floor and I thought about the very last exercise. You get in a seated position with your legs held out in front of you slightly bent about six to twelve inches off the floor and then alternate swiveling your arms from side to side across your torso while holding your feet slightly off the ground. We had done two sets with just our arms but then the thought crossed my mind, why not hold the ten pound weight in my hands and do the workout making it more difficult on the last set. I refused to listen to my body that wanted to take the easy way out and follow the course of lesser difficulty. It was hard but I finished the last set the hard way and though my muscles screamed for relief, the sense of satisfaction is hard to convey.
I see working out as a metaphor for the Christian life. Time and time again you and I are going to face last sets. Football players do so running sprints. Basketball players do so running lines at the end of practices. Wives do it washing dishes and folding laundry over and over again. Men do it getting up over and over again to go to work no matter how exhausted they are. Mothers face the last set when the infant wakes up in the middle of the night needing to be fed or the child wakes up nauseous in the wee hours of the morning. Teachers face the last set at end of every school day and the end of every school year. How you finish your last set no matter how exhausted you feel may very well help you when it comes to finishing the last set of your life. Like a track athlete at the end of the race who finds a little extra kick to propel him to the finish line, so we should strive to finish the last set of our lives at a full gait. We have all of eternity to rest and recover. [Heb 12:1]
In the weight room we did a leg work out followed by some abdominal exercises. The abdominal work out is never fun and we usually save it for the last. It consists of a series of exercises done in rapid fire succession without rest until the whole series is done. After a short rest we repeat the whole cycle. Today we decided we would three different series of abdominal work.
By this time our shirts looked we had been rinsed off with a water hose. It was after 8:00 p.m. and we were starving. After we finished the second series of torso work, I looked over at Taylor and smiled saying, “The last set. I love it when we get to the last set.” The last set means the end is in sight, victory is within grasp, and the goal has almost been attained.
You may notice I said the goal has almost been attained. Many times when we come to the last set of anything in life it is like facing a fork in the road. Some people face the last set of work, school, work outs, service for God and just want to finish the task. In our fatigue it is awfully tempting to give less than our best effort on the last set. The path is the path of finishing the last set with all the energy we have left. Either way a choice has to be made about how you finish the last set.
Many of you who are reading this are facing the last set. It might be in your marriage, with your children, dealing with difficulties at work, or in completing some task you set out with gusto to accomplish. I have seen many people cash it in on the last set. Instead of reaching down deep and finishing the last set with determination and grit many are contented to go through the motions or worse yet to be content without finishing the last set all together.
Much can be determined about people if you watch how they finish the last set. I have watched many athletes and people in the arena of life simply quit when the going got hard. Even when the end was in sight and rest along with refueling were in sight, more than one has opted to throw in the towel and walk away without finishing the last set.
I’ll be honest with you. The Christian life is hard. The temptations are relentless. The trials bombard us unceasingly. The tests of faith seem innumerable. The challenge is to finish the last set in prayer, the last set in Bible study, in loving people who do not always act lovingly, and the conquest to believe God for the impossible. All of these things are down right wearying. Who has not been tempted to take the path of least resistance and coast to the finish if we even have the gumption to finish at all? The last set of anything can be extremely difficult and our energy reserves are usually depleted at this point. In the Christian life the path is not always rosy with strewn with picnics and scenic benches. It is more like war or a marathon and the going is often HARD!
As Taylor I faced our last set, I thought about taking it easy but then I looked at a ten pound weight I was using for one of the exercises lying on the floor and I thought about the very last exercise. You get in a seated position with your legs held out in front of you slightly bent about six to twelve inches off the floor and then alternate swiveling your arms from side to side across your torso while holding your feet slightly off the ground. We had done two sets with just our arms but then the thought crossed my mind, why not hold the ten pound weight in my hands and do the workout making it more difficult on the last set. I refused to listen to my body that wanted to take the easy way out and follow the course of lesser difficulty. It was hard but I finished the last set the hard way and though my muscles screamed for relief, the sense of satisfaction is hard to convey.
I see working out as a metaphor for the Christian life. Time and time again you and I are going to face last sets. Football players do so running sprints. Basketball players do so running lines at the end of practices. Wives do it washing dishes and folding laundry over and over again. Men do it getting up over and over again to go to work no matter how exhausted they are. Mothers face the last set when the infant wakes up in the middle of the night needing to be fed or the child wakes up nauseous in the wee hours of the morning. Teachers face the last set at end of every school day and the end of every school year. How you finish your last set no matter how exhausted you feel may very well help you when it comes to finishing the last set of your life. Like a track athlete at the end of the race who finds a little extra kick to propel him to the finish line, so we should strive to finish the last set of our lives at a full gait. We have all of eternity to rest and recover. [Heb 12:1]
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