The Courage to Follow Your Heart

Posted on June 26, 2011 by day1of1

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” – Romans 8:15

 
“Your heart is free.  Have the courage to follow it.”  These are the words spoken by Malcolm Wallace to his young son William in a dream.  Malcolm and his oldest son had been killed in a battle against the English, leaving the boy orphaned and bound to set off for parts unknown with his uncle.  The dream shows William approaching a table on which his wounded Father was laid.  As he draws closer to the table, Malcolm’s body comes to life and he turns to William to deliver his final message to his son.  The message is a powerful one – perhaps a bit strange for a common farmer to leave as an epitaph but inspiring nonetheless.

 
Your heart is free.  This is easier said than done.  Modern life is filled with responsibilities that seem to make many of our decisions for us.  Our jobs, bosses, spouses, children, parents, families, friends, neighbors, churches, community organizations, and governments all play a major role in what we can and cannot do.  The repair man comes to fix an appliance between 1-5, leaving you home all day with nothing to do but wait.  Your boss complains that all of the work isn’t getting done and you’re working overtime.  Your children play on a travel soccer team so your weekends are suddenly filled with driving, cheering, and staying warm and dry.  You buy a new smartphone with wireless Internet access designed to make your life simpler only to find that keeping connected further eliminates the opportunity to unwind and pursue the things in life that truly bring you joy.  It can be hard to comprehend living in a society that is founded on the fundamental elements of freedom when you stop to think about just how locked in place our lives have actually become.  It takes some doing, but it is possible to change that paradigm and return back to a place where your heart is really free, but to do so will require work, perseverance, and above all courage.

 
Have the courage to follow it.  Having painted the picture of a free heart as being so difficult to achieve, it may come as a bit of a surprise to realize that the more difficult aspect of this admonition is to step up and follow it.  To some, this may seem to be a gross over-simplification.  Courage is the sort of thing you see on a battlefield or in a decision made by a world leader.  Many of us don’t see any of the decisions we make on a day to day basis as being terribly important, let alone courageous.  But then again, maybe it is that very lack of recognition which leaves so many of us trapped within the lives we currently are living, unwilling to take the necessary risks to receive the maximized benefits.  Courage is respected in every situation – including those circumstances that will never earn a medal or save a life.  A free heart can fill your mind with thoughts, but it takes courage to make those thoughts a reality.  A free heart can inspire you to pursue something you desire, but without courage you are more likely to give up hope at the first signs of struggle or resistance.  How many ideas have gone undeveloped?  How many relationships have not been pursued?  How many dreams have been left on the pillow because we did not step forward in boldness to pursue what God had left for us to have because we simply lacked the courage to fulfill it?

 
Very little of what I have said here should come as much of a surprise to us.  Courage is difficult to summon when we know exactly what to do.  It becomes even harder to find when we are still searching for the right path to travel or the best choice to make.  How wonderful it is to know that the solution to overcoming our fear can be found in the powerful arms of our loving God.  According to William Wallace’s father, true courage comes from following a heart that is free.  In real life, our Heavenly Father shows us in His word that this is also true, but in order for this to happen, we must follow God’s plan.  Through Christ, our hearts have been redeemed and by the Spirit we are given the courage necessary to step out where we must in order to fully become who God created us to be.

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Paralysis by Analysis

Posted on June 3, 2011 by day1of1

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love hepredestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. – Ephesians 1:3-6

 
Ever spend too much time standing in the closet trying to decide what to wear?  Ever stand in the aisle of a store comparing two or three similar items, unable to decide which one you should purchase?  Ever sit down at your desk at work to begin a busy day and find yourself unable to decide which of the dozens of tasks you should do first?  Or my personal favorite, ever have someone tell you they’re so hungry that they could eat anything but they don’t care what restaurant they go to, but then not offer any options while declining your suggestions?  (If you know someone like this and are thinking of showing them this blog post, please understand that I take no responsibility in what happens to you).

 
“Paralysis by Analysis” or whatever cute and clever name you wish to call it can really be a detriment to someone trying to reach a goal.  We often complain when we are not given options to choose but yet once we have options we struggle make the choice.  Now when it comes to restaurants, earrings, and neckties this can be a bit frustrating but not life altering.  However, this same difficulty can create major difficulties when applied to the most important areas of our lives.

 
I have found that indecision is particularly damaging when it comes to love and relationships.  People who waffle, who hesitate, or who struggle with clearly establishing the choice they have made to love through their daily lives will have more difficulty establishing, developing, and ultimately enjoying a their relationships.  Indecision needlessly complicates life and suffocates love.  To illustrate this, I will once again turn to one of the greatest love stories of all-time: Forrest Gump (I know, just humor me once again).

 
When you compare Forrest and Jenny, you see how their approaches to decision making impacted their lives.  Forrest progressed from one thing to the next; never getting too high or too low.  He made a choice, stuck to it, and moved forward with a sense of purpose and security in that choice.  Jenny was more free-flowing in her choices and often found herself having to deal with the consequences of a previous decision.  Her life was filled with ups and downs and the instability took its toll.  This is most evident in the love they “shared.”  Established through friendship at an early age, Forrest developed a love for Jenny that was lifelong, simple, solid, and for the most part, unrequited.  Some might look at Forrest’s love for Jenny and say that more than anything else proves just how stupid he really was.  Why put up with this?  Why hold on to a love that has lasted for so long without any return or any assurance that one will ever come?  The answer is as simple as the character: that was his choice.  Forrest made up his mind that he loved Jenny; that she was his girl, end of story.  Nothing could ever change that.  It didn’t matter where they were, what they did, how much they saw each other or how deeply she hurt him, he never lost focus on the love he had for her.  This is best demonstrated in this exchange near the end of the film:

 
Jenny Curran: Were you scared in Vietnam?
Forrest Gump: Yes. Well, I-I don’t know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out… and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was always a million sparkles on the water… like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It’s so beautiful.
Jenny Curran: I wish I could’ve been there with you.
Forrest Gump: You were.

 
Jenny and Forrest have married.  For her, the marriage was another decision: Forrest was the biological father of her son and the best person to raise him now that she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  For him, it was the culmination of a decision to love Jenny made decades earlier.  What makes this all the more touching is that his choice to love Jenny not only comes to manifestation in his life, but she too is finally able to receive the benefits from his diligence in holding on to the choice he made because the next thing she says and the last thing she says in the movie is the one thing Forrest has waited a lifetime to hear, “I love you, Forrest.”

 
Forrest’s love is a simple and imperfect example of what it must be like when God looks at us.  He loves us by His own choice and certainly not for anything we might have done to deserve it.  His choice was made long ago and it has not changed, nor will it.  He has done everything necessary for us to be able to live in love with Him.  Of course, like Jenny we complicate things.  We try to make things bigger and more difficult than they need to be and as a result we face consequences for our bad choices and our indecision.  But even then, God has given us forgiveness through Christ and renewal by the Holy Spirit so that we too may come to benefit by the decision He made on our behalf. 

 
May the love of God live and grow in your heart so that His perfect work may be made complete in our lives and in the decision we make through Him.

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True Colors

Posted on May 23, 2011 by day1of1

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. – Psalm 139:14

 
Spring is the season when the colors come out, and not just in the many buds and blossoms that fill the gardens and trees which have lain dormant for months.  I noticed this a few weeks ago while participating with my colleagues in commencement ceremonies at Concordia University – Ann Arbor.  As the faculty gathered, I was surrounded by an assortment of colors on the robes and hoods of the professors.  Some of the color schemes are attractive, some are bizarre, but all of them tell a story. 

 
Colors on the hood signify the academic area in which the degree was earned as well as the university from which it was earned.  The university’s colors are easy to detect.  As Concordia is also my alma mater, my hood features the school’s red and white colors.  But the real fun comes from the colors that represent the content areas.  I am not too displeased with the light blue that identifies my degree in education, especially when I consider what colors I might have been given to wear.   Were my degree in music, I would be processing in pink – not the most manly of colors.  Some colors don’t seem to match the content area to which they were aligned.  Take fine arts for example.  Artists do amazing things with vibrant colors, so why are their hoods a basic brown?  Or consider business majors.  Why would a group of people who spend their lives making green hood themselves in drab?  Is that even a color?  Guess I’d better ask someone wearing brown)   To be fair, some of the hood colors make perfect sense.  A degree in criminal justice will not only get you fitted for a midnight blue uniform, but a hood to match.  And I was not surprised to learn that those people who strut around with degrees in government and public service would sport peacock colored hoods.

 
While I poke fun at the color of the hoods, I must be careful to remain respectful of one thing – the work that went into earning that degree.  I may not be a fan of the colors of every hood, but I recognize the accomplishment that it represents.  The person wearing these colors has worked, sacrificed, and disciplined themselves to earn a level of academic achievement that roughly 10% of Americans will reach.  So while these colors may not be flattering or our personal favorite, they identify us as special within our discipline, setting us apart as uniquely accomplished within our academic areas.

 
This same concept can be applied to the lives that many Christians live.  God knows us – has created us with gifts and abilities that are uniquely us.  Our lives are a testimony to what He has done for us and our thoughts, words and deeds demonstrate these things as proudly and as prominently as a graduate degree’s hood.  In His great love for us, God has equipped us for everything we will encounter.  God comes to our aid by revealing himself to us, creating a relationship with us, saving us through the death and resurrection of His Son, and allowing us to preach and teach this gospel message by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 
Unfortunately, many people try to downplay who they are in one way or another.  We pursue things that have no bearing on the world and little importance even in our own lives.  Sometimes our decisions can be confusing, destructive, or contrary to the will of God in our lives.  In these cases we do a tremendous disservice to ourselves, to those around us who have sown into us along the way, and of course to our God.  It was Shakespeare who once wrote “To thine own self be true,” an admonition to be yourself in all things – especially when dealing with yourself.  You’d think this would be easy, but how often do we try to convince ourselves that we are something we are not?  We look in the mirror and see our color and decide it’s the wrong shade, or that it’s really yellow instead of red, or that we’d look better wearing somebody else’s color.  It’s easy to fall into this trap, to seek shades that don’t belong to us all the while wishing our true colors would change or go away.

 
At the risk of being a bit too simple, when it comes down to it we have been made by God with colors He chose.  As our creator, He had a vision of who we were and what we could be, so He used the correct colors to ensure that His masterpiece would be complete.  Instead of being frustrated about what we lack, we should be thankful for the colors He provided.  May we continually thank and praise the Artist who so marvelously crafted us, seeking His guidance to find just the right mix of our colors to create the most vibrant and beautiful shade of “us” we can make.

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Remodeled

Posted on May 12, 2011 by day1of1

Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. – Acts 3:19-21

 
Recently I was driving along a two lane highway out in the middle of nowhere.  As I drove, I came up to an intersection where a car was at a stop sign waiting for me to pass.  Now I’m sure that you are thinking that there is nothing special about this, after all cars pass other cars at stop signs millions of times a day all over the world, so surely this particular incident was of no greater importance.  But what I saw surprised me because in fact, it was quite rare.

 
The car waiting at the intersection was a Ford Model T – the vehicle that put Ford Motor Company on the map by making cars affordable for everyone.  I do not know the year, the mileage, or any of its history, but by all accounts the car was a beauty.  Everything about the car looked to be well cared for: the exterior was clean and free of dents and scratches.  The top was down, revealing a simple but very well maintained interior.  Even the whitewall tires gleamed in bright contrast to the famous black paint.  Even though I am not a “car guy,” I found myself intrigued by what I saw.  I began to imagine the history of the vehicle, how fun it must be to go cruising on a warm, sunny day, and yes – even how much a car like that must be worth.  But as my mind started processing the joys of owning such a vehicle another thought emerged that gave me reason to pause.

 
The Model T was in production from 1908-1927, meaning that 84 years have passed since the last one was produced.  That is a long time for anything to last – especially a machine with moving parts designed to be mobile.  So even though I was looking at a vehicle that was clean and impeccably maintained today, it is an absolute certainty that this car has at numerous times been broken down, dirty, damaged, and in need of repair.  How many times has it been fixed?  How many of the original parts have broken or worn down and needed to be replaced?  It’s hard to think about it in those terms when you see it out on the road – but I imagine that in order for that car to still be running today there must have been many, many hours spent in the garage repairing, preparing, and caring for this special vehicle.

 
In many ways our lives parallel the Model T.  We were built for a purpose, to follow a trail that will cause us to travel many miles and in many different directions.  Over time we will break down: physical ailments, pain, financial struggles, relationship troubles, loss of loved ones, fear, uncertainty – to name but a few.  Some of these breakdowns slow us down, others make us stop entirely.  But like the Model T, we have a loving caregiver who keeps us going.  God has purchased us, lovingly restored us from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ, and sustains us daily by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Through God’s care we are able to overcome life’s obstacles and reach that place where we are no longer just another vehicle traveling through life but a priceless classic.

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Don’t Forget

Posted on May 4, 2011 by day1of1

Recently, I have had the opportunity to meditate upon the idea of leaving a legacy.  To be specific, I was looking to find an answer to the question: Why is leaving a legacy so important to men?  Most every guy I know, myself included, wants to leave behind something that will be remembered long after we are gone.  This is true in our families, in our occupation, and in our personal achievements.  Even if we understand that we are not amassing “toys” that we can’t take with us to eternity, we still feel compelled to live in a way that keeps our contribution to the world (or our corner of it) relevant and important for those who will follow behind us.

This idea of a noble legacy is portrayed in the movie Gladiator.  The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius is aging and coming face to face with his own mortality.  In a conversation with General Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, Aurelius shares his feelings about the importance of the legacy he’s about to leave…

“When a man sees his end… he wants to know there was some purpose to his life. How will the world speak my name in years to come? Will I be known as the philosopher? The warrior? The tyrant…? Or will I be the emperor who gave Rome back her true self?”

Aurelius couldn’t bear the thought that he would go down in history as a man of war.  He desired that his memory be one that would impact the people of Rome more positively than any other emperor before him.  But why was this so important?  After all, once he’s dead and gone he won’t have the power to change, the ability to see what history does to his memory nor will he care.  This is especially good for Marcus Aurelius who in the film is later murdered before his plan can take root.  But even so, his desire to leave that legacy was so strong it led him to make decisions which ultimately set into motion his demise.

Maybe it’s because we realize that death ends our earthly influence and so we try to maximize our effectiveness while we can.  But perhaps there’s another reason why this is so important to us.  Leaving a strong legacy is hard wired into men, and that makes sense when you consider how we were made.  When God created us in His image, we were designed to be with Him for eternity.  However, our sin has corrupted God’s plan – turning what was designed to be permanent into something short lived.  And while our bodies are destined to die, something inside of us yearns for something more.  So as we search ourselves we quickly discover that in the earthly realm all that can last beyond our deaths is our legacy.  And so we strive to be the next Abraham Lincoln or the next Bill Gates.  But can that last?  Think about it – what percentage of the world’s population actually know about Marcus Aurelius and his accomplishments as the emperor of Rome.  Yes we can Google him, but does his legacy really mean anything to you?  They often say that people can’t remember who finished #2 in most athletic contests, but the harsh truth is this – in time most people will forget the winner as well.

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”?  It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. – Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

So does this mean we should abandon our hope of leaving a legacy and simply live our lives with no eye toward the future?  Absolutely not!  Instead, we must turn our focus to something that unlike a legacy can in fact live on for eternity.  And that one thing can only be found in the love of our Heavenly Father.  God is eternal and His love knows no bounds.  What’s more, He has known you from the beginning and as Scripture promises us, He will never leave nor forsake you.  I can amass a fortune and donate it to charity.  I can author hundreds of books.  I can run a business or lead a nation.  I can do anything humanly possible to leave my mark on society but even being friends with every man, woman, and child on Facebook won’t leave as lasting a mark on this world than a simple act of living a life filled with faith in the One who created it, redeemed it, and renews it daily.

May the Lord of all fill our hearts with peace, love and joy now and forever.

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Forgiveness

Posted on April 26, 2011 by day1of1

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

 
In the movie Invictus, Morgan Freeman portrays former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Nelson Mandela.  As the nation’s first anti-apartheid president he faced an unprecedented challenge; directing the country into a future that would learn from, but not mirror its past.  For many, the change in leadership signaled a turning of the tides; a reversal of fortune.  People whose voices had been silenced by oppression and fear were now being heard loud and clear, making the message all the more important.  But what Mandela understood above all was that this new voice had to be one of peace, understanding and forgiveness.  This was evident in many decisions he made in the film, but most clearly established in one conversation.

 
Mandela has made the decision to desegregate his personal security staff – a decision that was questioned by the new leader of the bodyguards.  The head of security complained to Mandela who listened to his concerns and then explained his decision using the following words:

 
“Forgiveness liberates the soul.  It removes fear.  That is why it is such a powerful weapon.”

 
As I heard these words, I couldn’t help but think that this is the very sentiment that was displayed by our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Arrested in the middle of the night, accused falsely and on trumped up charges, tried and convicted quickly, sent to Pilate where he was scourged and ultimately condemned, forced to carry a cross to which He was nailed and on which He died.  As He was led to His death, He was whipped, beaten, and scorned.  His death was one of the most horrific and painful ever devised, and yet, in all of this He had the ability to respond to his tormentors with forgiveness.

 
“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” – Luke 23:34

 
If the story ended there, this would be one of the greatest demonstrations of forgiveness ever given.  But take a moment and consider this – the forgiveness displayed on the cross pales in comparison to the forgiveness found afterward.  Many people, like Mandela, have forgiven those who have wronged them.  Some have even forgiven those who would ultimately be responsible for their own deaths.  But in His resurrection, Christ not only spoke the words of forgiveness but He made forgiveness the reality in which we can now live our lives every day.  He has established for us a new future – one where we have the opportunity to forgive, to be forgiven, and to live unified as a body of believers moving toward an eternity of praising the God whose great love for us made this future possible.

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Righteousness Revealed

Posted on April 19, 2011 by day1of1

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:8-17

Many Christians are aware of the importance of reading their Bible, just like many do-it-yourselfers are aware of the importance of following a blueprint, many cooks are aware of the importance of following the recipe, and many techno-geeks are aware of the importance of reading the user’s manual.  What all of these people have in common is that the vast majority of them don’t do it.  Sure there are lots of good excuses, and if you work hard enough you can come up with an end result that is adequate.  The construction job will be strong enough, the food will taste good enough, and the computer will operate well enough.  But what about your faith?  Are you a “good enough” type of Christian?  Are you satisfied with knowledge of saving grace but too proud, too cool, too busy or too afraid to live life in the fullness of the righteousness of God?  Are you comfortable because you know enough about God’s grace to get yourself in the door with little more to offer than that?

Why stop there?

Nobody would choose to sleep outside in the cold and rain when offered a warm bed inside.  Nobody would choose to be alone and go hungry when they are invited by friends to a meal.  Nobody would thank their boss for the gesture but refuse to take that paycheck out of guilt.  When people choose to provide us with good gifts, we receive them gladly and we use them to the fullest.  Why then would we choose to take what is without question the greatest gift we have been given and leave it sitting on the side, denying ourselves access to the greatest joy, comfort, and peace that we can possibly imagine?

In verse 17, Paul is clear when it comes to describing the benefits we receive from God through the gospel.  A righteousness from God is revealed.  There is no other place where this can be found, no other way to get it.  It is stored up for us in the Word and is revealed to us by God through the Word.  God is giving us a gift of great value, and He is telling us the exactly where we can find it.  Once that righteousness is revealed to us, we are able to live our lives in His abundant righteousness as He has provided it for us.  Not a bad deal really – that is if we do our part and get into His Word.

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No Greater Love

Posted on April 13, 2011 by day1of1

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. – John 15:13

Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is the most graphic depiction of the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday ever filmed. For years movies and television shows telling Jesus’ story limited their portrayals of the violence of Jesus’ death. “Passion” left nothing to the imagination. Utilizing modern cinematic special effects, Gibson gives us an up-close look at the physical agony that Christ experienced.

I remember the first time I saw the film in the theater. I understood the physicality of crucifixion, but seeing it reenacted on the screen was an eye-opening experience. I’ve seen the movie several times since and still marvel at what Jesus endured on my behalf. But it was during my last viewing of the film that I noticed something that gave me a renewed understanding of what Jesus did that day at Calvary.

Having been condemned by Pilate, Jesus was led out to be executed. After Jesus drops His cross, the soldiers grab Him and violently strip off his cloak, knocking him to the ground. He lies there for a moment, catching His breath, summoning His strength. It is here where the most amazing thing happens. Jesus picks himself up off the ground and crawls toward His cross.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Who would do this? I realize that this is a motion picture and not an accurate account of every detail shared in the Gospels. I also understand that He’s in no condition to run or fight after hours of being tortured. But to see the Son of God, battered and beaten, lying on the ground, exerting His last bit of strength to move toward His death was an amazing revelation to me. You might expect Him to just lie there, forcing the soldiers to do their jobs while He hung onto life for as long as He could. But the way this scene was presented shows us the most important of truths, reminding us of the purpose for which He had been sent.

So why did He do it? Why move toward the suffering and death that awaited Him? It was love. It was love that brought Him to earth, to be a man born in a stable. Love compelled Him to feed the hungry and to heal the sick. And now, in the most significant moment in human history, it was love that led him to die on a cross. He wasn’t forced to do this. There was no order given. It wasn’t a debt that He owed, just one that He chose to pay. It was His choice, and it was a choice rooted in a love far greater than any other.

As our Lenten journey takes us to Calvary followed by Easter Sunday’s empty tomb, let us remember that our salvation comes from the love of God for us shown through the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. May we offer our deepest thanks to God for His grace, and let us share His story through our thoughts, words and deeds; now and always.

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Minute by Minute

Posted on April 7, 2011 by day1of1

You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. – Psalm 139:1-6

 
One of the most interesting and sometimes challenging things to teach younger students is the concept of the time zones.  Because we are most familiar with our immediate surroundings, we tend to assume that everyone else is experiencing the same things we are.  Globalization has also contributed to the difficulty.  Because the media and the Internet provide us with immediate access to nearly every corner of the world, we assume once again that things are happening based on our own timeframe and according to our own perspectives.  It’s once we start traveling that we begin to see the differences.  The Today Show on NBC airs from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in New York City, which means that it has been off the air for an hour before it begins in Los Angeles.    I enjoy talking with a friend of mine in London when I catch him on Facebook or Skype.  If I stay up late I can sometimes catch him waking up early (yes, he has kids).  In these circumstances I will often ask him how tomorrow is going, is it worth waking up for, or I’ll simply leave him in charge of the planet until I wake up later (and I can usually blame him for most of the mishaps that occur).

 
I may be overthinking it, but the continual movement of time impresses me.  Think about it: is there ever a time when the sun is not rising or setting?  Someone is always waking up.  Someone is always heading to bed.  The work day never stops starting and as the song points out – it’s always 5:00 somewhere!  Midday in Washington DC means end of the morning rush in Seattle, dinner time in Paris, and Hong Kong is in bed getting ready to start tomorrow.  So when you stop and think about it, everything is different.

 
Almost…

 
There is one part of the clock that is common in most every time zone.  The hour hand changes with every time zone you enter, but the minutes hand remains the same.  10:22 in Miami is 9:22 in Chicago, 8:22 in Denver, and 7:22 in San Francisco.  And so the bigger time block (hours) are all different but the smaller time measurements (minutes) are all the same.  And it is here, in this commonality that I found a most interesting parallel.

 
In life, many of us gear up for the major events that happen.  We all get the opportunities to deal with gains and losses, births and deaths, victories and defeats.  Major life events occur on a continual basis throughout the world.  In the time it takes you to read this blog, literally hundreds of people will have been born, been hired or fired from a job, fell in love or separated from a loved one, made or lost a million dollars, discovered or invented something, retired, and/or died.  These are major life events and they are happening all the time.  But even more than the big events, think about the smaller things that every man, woman and child on our planet share.  Literally millions of people are currently eating a meal, listening to a song, driving a car, hugging someone, feeling sad, and/or having a good day.  The human experience is shared, but the commonality is most prevalent in the little things that happen minute by minute. 

 
We live our lives heavily focused on the hours.  Planners and calendars list our days by the hour (and often only from 8:00 – 6:00), but when’s the last time life happened at the top of the hour?  Thankfully we have a God that knows and connects with us on a minute by minute basis.  We often ask people we care about to tell us about their day.  How deeply would you need to love someone to want to hear a minute by minute account of their thoughts, feelings, and responses to the events of their day?  It is at our most basic levels where God’s interest in us lies.  His love is comprehensive.  His mercy is complete.  Because of His great love for us, we can move forward in boldness, confident that our God is not merely 24/7, but with us 1,440 minutes a day.

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Free to be Free

Posted on April 4, 2011 by day1of1

I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. – Psalm 119:30-32

For non-believers, this passage may have an inconsistent feel.  Following someone’s commands doesn’t sound like freedom.  To the world, freedom is that “I can do whatever I want whenever I want to” approach that so many people seek.  On the surface that sounds good.  We want freedom in our schedules, financial freedom; the freedom to decide what’s best for us today and into the future.  The only problem with that reasoning is – we simply aren’t in a position to make this happen.

In order to understand what freedom is, we should probably start by looking at what freedom is not.  Freedom does not give us the opportunity to do anything we want.  Americans have freedom of speech, but this doesn’t give us the right to threaten one another.  Instead, we have the responsibility to protect and defend our freedoms through respecting the laws of our nation, the rights of our neighbors, and the Word of our God.

It is only through God – the way of truth, that we will ever know true freedom.  His laws and precepts guide us to our destinies so that we might know the fullness of the blessings He wishes to manifest in our lives.  It is through our diligent pursuit of Him and our desires to follow His will we will find the fulfillment of our destinies.  So it demonstrates a most interesting contradiction: freedom comes through submission.

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