Do not be afraid. Only Believe.
I came across this in a devotional the other day. I really like the way The Message interprets Romans 12:2.
“Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. . . . Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you”
-j
It seems like there are a few Christian “fanatics” that encourage Believers to abandon their lives for Christ and promise lives of excitement and miracles and unimaginableness if we would just step out in faith. What’s up with them? And why do their lives seem so exciting?!
I heard this song on the radio the other day, and I decided it’s my theme song. I remember deciding that my life was about to take a tremendous shift and realizing it was incredibly thrilling. I talked about it at church, and I could see smiles on some of the folks, but they seemed more like “Aw, isn’t Jason cute with his talk about exciting Christianity?” Not like they actually believed it was possible, or at least like they were fine with the way their lives were going.
A little while ago I would have said that God calls everyone to lives like that. At Eastern Camp I got to thinking though; maybe He doesn’t. Maybe He only gives that level of thrill to some people. I can encourage people out of their commonplace Christianity, but maybe they legitimately don’t have the “gift” of excitement to serve with abandonment. But maybe I’m wrong…
Living in the same town
For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it’s starting to get crippling
You’ve never felt in place
And you tell yourself it’s all okay
But something’s different today
You want to run the opposite wayAnd it seems like you’re locked in a cage
And you need to find a way of escape
When everyone is setting the pace
It’s okay to run the opposite wayThe Father sent His Son down
The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His own town
They couldn’t see the sun shining
He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It’s not Your will for me to stay
Your will for me is the opposite wayAnd it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn’t find away of escape
But through the cross He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way
I didn’t intend to put all of the lyrics here, but I couldn’t decide which ones to leave out. If you’d like to hear it, go ahead and click the link. They offered the song for free on their website, so I don’t feel bad posting it here.
It feels so…perfect to be running the opposite way.
-j
Katie had her baby around 12:25 on Tuesday afternoon. Her name is Elizabeth.
Who do you think she looks like? It’s pretty clear to me, but click the image to be sure we’re on the same page.
-Uncle J
I'm Jason, and I like to write.