How Far?

C. S. Lewis said we are often like children playing around in mud puddles when God is offering us a holiday by the ocean.

In other words, we settle for so much less than God has for us.

When I was a teenager, a little poem grabbed my attention. I pasted it on my bedroom door.

Nothing ventured
Nothing gained
Don't be afraid to try
Dream big dreams
Reach for the stars
Set your standards high.

That grabbed me, but I had no idea what to do about it. So I didn't do anything about it. I just coasted and drifted along, taking the easy way. The don't do much way. The hang out and try to enjoy life as much as a relatively broke teenager could way.

At the time, if you would have asked me, "What do you want? How much do you want it? What are you going to do about it? And what is holding you back?" I would have NO answers to any of your questions.

I went to college because I didn't have anything better to do. I would discover I went to college because God was at work in my life and I didn't know it. I went to the only college that accepted my rather low SAT scores!

It was at that college that God orchestrated a series of events where I heard the gospel, knew I needed Jesus, accepted his saving grace, and became his follower and disciple.

As the weeks went by and I was reading the Bible, listening to messages at my college Christian fellowship group, having conversations with more mature Christians (in other words, with students who had become Christians 1 or 2 years earlier!) I started noticing some crazy, wild promises in the Bible.

And I believed that!
Even more, I started acting on that.

• Within 4 months I had read through the Bible.
• Within a year I read through the Bible a second time.
• A year after my conversion to Christ I was leading a Bible study.
• On a weekly basis I was sharing my faith with my friends who didn't know Jesus.
• I was seeing people accept Jesus, just as I had done.
• Oh yes, I was studying my college courses like crazy, learning and growing, and getting really good grades. I had been a C+ student in high school, now it was A's. Talk about being able to do all things through Jesus!
• In my sophomore year I became one of the leaders of a growing student movement that saw hundreds of commitments to Christ and a wildly spreading small group movement.
• I went on my first mission trip, trusting that God would provide the $$$ (I was still relatively broke). He provided the funds to the dollar that I needed. 

I guess you could call us radical. Honestly, it just seemed the NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE. That was the name of a little book many of us read.

Dedicated, devoted, determined following of Jesus.
The passionate pursuit of God's Better Kingdom.
The sold-out surrender to his will and plan for my life.
Trust Jesus and hold on tight.
Thy will be done in my life as it is in heaven.

This way of living is not reserved for an exceptional few Christians. That is the NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE. At least it should be.

If that is true, and I hope you KNOW that is true, then there are two questions.

First, do you want for your life what God wants for you?

Second, how much do you want for your life what God wants for you?

The NORMAL Christian life is you wanting A LOT of what God wants you to have.

It is a lot more than splashing around in mud puddles!
So what is holding you back? We'll talk about that in the next post (in a day or two).

Seeking the better Kingdom of God, together with you,
Pastor Brian Rice