Are You Watching Life, Or Participating?

Has this ever happened to you as you watched a movie or television show? You're sitting there enjoying the entertainment, when you see the main character about to get into trouble and getting caught up in the moment you start to holler at the screen for the character to watch out?

We've all done that I'm sure. Why do we do that exactly? It's because we can see what is about to happen to the people in those stories we're watching. We can see the man with the gun hiding behind the door, where the hero of the story can't. It's part of what makes story telling good, but it also makes us a spectator to those people's lives.

Wouldn't it be nice to know what was about to happen next in any given moment? I mean to have clarity in knowing that the decisions that you are making right now are the correct ones. What a wonderful gift that would be huh? Absolutely not! I mean part of me does wish for that, but if we knew everything all the time how boring would our lives become? It would be like eating the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day for your entire life. Yes it would nourish your body, but don't you think you would begin to detest meal times? I know that I would.

This life we are living is called by the Apostle Paul a race. But it is not a sprint, no it is more like a marathon, one that we run at a constant pace until we win. In Hebrews chapter eleven he talks

about the great cloud of witnesses that we have set as an example of what our race should look like. These heroes of faith are there to spur us on to continue our race no matter what. Paul says in Hebrews chapter twelve, verse two that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith.

There's a couple of thoughts here, first off the great cloud of witnesses were all men and women of faith that were before Jesus completed the thing that God had for us all. So therefore these people are our examples of how to have faith in God, even though we are partakers of the better covenant.

The second thing is that we are to fix our eyes on Jesus. I heard a minister speaking this year and he talked about how he was a track runner in high school. He told us the story about one of his meets, where he was way out in front of everyone else. He recalled that he could not hear the sound of anyone else's feet around him, so he turned his head to see how far ahead of everyone he was, and lost the race by one-tenth of a second.

There was another runner right beside him, and when he took his eyes off of his goal, the finish line, it caused him to slow up in his running just enough that the man beside him took the prize. He went on to say that the coach always told them to never take their eyes off of the goal, but to press on towards the finish line until the race was over. And had he done that on that day, he would have won the race.

If we do not keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will begin to get distracted from the goal of our race and slow up too. We cannot spend our time looking at what is around us, but must continue to strain forward towards the prize. We must pray, listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit, then step out in faith believing that we are making the best and right decisions that we can.

We must press on with that decision until we either win or realize that we missed it. And when we miss it, which we will from time to time, we need to stop, ask God to forgive us for missing it, then pray again, listen for God and then run our race. Life is not about getting it right every time, it is about getting out there and living that full, abundant life that Jesus talked about in John 10:10. Yes, we'll make mistakes, and miss what God is saying from time to time, but if we play it safe all of our lives, we will miss out on things that will make our lives more interesting for sure.

A good friend of mine said to me today, "Do what God is calling you to do, even if you have to do it afraid." Good advice for sure, the unknown can be scary, but even if we are afraid, we know we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us because God is right there with us. So take a chance today, live life fully keeping your eyes on the prize, Jesus.

Could It Have Been?

Many were the days as a young boy that I spent in the backyard of my parent's home fending off dragons and rescuing fair maidens form evil men of old. Much like Don Quixote's windmill, I had an old, gigantic oak tree that served to feel the brunt of my wrath. Many were the leaves that fell to the ground as dragon's scales slowly giving way to the behemoth's soft underbelly. I always vanquished my foe, and rescued the maiden, yet the beast always returned to challenge me the next day.

One of the saddest days of my life was the day I realized that I really was too old to continue fighting imaginary dragons, and hung up my sword and shield. You may have had a similar experience, where the realization that adulthood was near and you would have to leave all of your childish dreams behind. I hated to leave the nobler days of knighthood behind me; it was one of the toughest things to lose in my childhood. Little did I know that a mere twenty-five years later I would begin to re-visit some of those thoughts and dreams of my youth.

Knights of old have always fascinated me. I don't know if it is the swords, the chain mail or just the ideals they stood for, but I have always found them interesting. I always wanted to be the knight that fought against overwhelming odds, with truth as my shield dispensing righteousness with my sword and triumphing over every evil enemy all the while winning the heart of a fair maiden. Any movie with swords and knights seemed to call to me saying, "Come join us in our noble adventures."

I remember my sword, which in my mind's eye always gleamed with the shine of polished silver with gold inlaid in the handle, but which in reality was made of wood. That sword was my constant companion and I was quick to dispense justice to any brigand who dared behave in any manner unworthy of the crown.

There was a time when I wondered if I had been born into the wrong time, and that maybe I should have been born during the era of knights and kings. Then one day I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and received the free gift of salvation and realized that He had a plan for my life and it could not have been fulfilled during that time period, but had to be in this present day.

As the Spirit of God told Jeremiah, "Before you were formed in your mother's belly I knew you." (Jeremiah 1:5) It was by accepting Jesus as my Lord that I was removed from the kingdom of darkness and placed into the Kingdom of Light. I went from not having a King, to having one in a moment of time.

One of the things that I find curiously odd is that the Holy Spirit moved on James the king of England to have the Bible translated so that all men and women would be able to read God's Word. This was done during the time when knights roamed the European countryside. I mean God could have chosen any time to move upon someone to translate the Bible into a common tongue, why did He choose that time?

Could it be because that what the knights of that time stood for were very similar to the attributes that God wants His men to achieve? After all when God talks about the armor of God in Ephesians, His equipment list is that of a knight's isn't it? (Ephesians 6:10 - 18) This excites me to think that perhaps there is more here than a little boy's fantasy about slaying dragons and saving damsels in distress?

Maybe, just maybe God has a plan for us as men and we were closer to understanding it when we were ten playing in our back yard. Perhaps that wasn't as much playing, as it really was preparation for the lives that He wants us to live, the lives of knights of the realm, His Realm.

Well suit up then men, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!