How Can We Call This Living?

This is an adaption from a journal entry written on Monday, April 16th, 2007--the day of the Virginia Tech shooting.

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4.16.06
Leaning back against the van seat, I put my arm behind my head and rested it. Miles of scenery passed by me outside the vehicle window. This was comfortable.

To enjoy such relaxation is often the envy and desire of this world. "Oh, if only we could just relax and live." We have a notion in the back of our minds that we really are living when we are free from concern--free from physical and mental burden. Yet, as I leaned back in my amiable seat, the thought crossed my mind: how can we call this living? I think of the biographies I've been reading. Men such as brother Andrew, whose life mission was to carry the gospel of Christ into Communist countries. I doubt his life was free from concern. I doubt that his life was easy. But as I read his biography, I know he lived. Men such as Hudson Taylor--he too risked all comfort to carry the gospel to those who didn't know Christ. Hudson was often sick, but he carried on. These men really lived. I don't doubt that these men's lives were hard, both mentally or physically. Yet, they lived to show Christ; they lived to rescue lives, comfort hearts, and save souls. These men are my heroes.

This morning, 32 people were killed. A gunman released an odor of death across the campus of Virginia Tech College. I am stunned. I watch the news, and then in my awkwardness I tell my TeenPact host family, "I think I'm going to lay down and rest a bit." Lay down and rest? How can we call this living? How can we be content to lay back while the world around is being torn --hearts across America are being shattered with grief as they learn of the massacre of their loved ones. People were killed today, and I am resting. How can I call this living?

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Edit: After a few questions from a friend, I should clarify this post. My intentions and heart of the above thoughts were not to promote restlessness about the condition of the world around us. If read wrongly, this post may have come across as advocating 'worry'. That's not what I meant to imply in any way. As Christians, we should rest in hope of God and have an incredible peace in Him.

What I was trying to communicate was that we should be concerned about those around us--we shouldn't be content to just sit back and 'relax' while we still have time to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

New blog!

I've just begun a new personal blog, just for those times when meditation is key. At Meeting Place, I'm seeking to capture the feeling of "alone time" with God, where we can meet with Him and meditate upon His Word and His salvation.

So please, stop by and spend some meditation on God's Word along with me. I'm sure that the Lord will bless both of our efforts, for He has promised that He will!

P.S. I am also still blogging here at PtM. Meeting Place is simply another place to journal. So don't worry; I'm still here! :-)

You're almost there...

[The end of school is in sight...

you're now facing your greatest challenge.]

"My greatest challenge?" you might ask. "I thought that keeping up was the hardest part.... What's this about finishing school?"

My own teacher once compared it to an Olympic marathon runner. The athlete has pushed every single muscle in his body to do its absolute best. He has run 25.5 grueling miles around and around and around the track, numbing both his body and his mind. He has endured countless hours of pain and sweat and tension to make it to this once-in-a-lifetime event.... Now the finish line is just ahead of him. He can see it within a few more yards; victory is almost his.

[What does he do?]

Does he suddenly slow up, answering his body's pleading for rest, before his feet cross the line? Absolutely not. Even though he can't imagine that he has any left, he gathers every last ounce of strength he has and dashes forward once more. The greatest challenge comes when he is 10 feet away from victory, his entire body screaming at him to slow down and take the victory easily. But where is the glory in walking across the finish line? How does "just making it" over enhance his career?

[Are you satisfied with just "making it" through?]

Are you content to just ease over the finish line at the end of the school year? "I'll just make sure that I get a passing grade.... I won't study as hard for those last few tests. I mean, there's only one or two more months left anyway...."

I know this is the hard part of the year. You are burned. out. with schoolwork. Procrastination and rest are your friends. The temptation is so hard to resist...and many of us don't. Just get through it; don't strive for excellence ... don't finish with a great victory. Be content with just finishing.

Its a hard thing. But God calls us to do it. So do it in obedience to God. Do it for His glory. Do it for your "good testimony" before men. Don't be content to "survive" the last weeks of school. The end is just in sight, your victory is just around the bend. So take hold of it; seize it; do it with "all your might."

Do Hard Things.