I went fishing in the mountains of northern New Mexico a few days ago and caught a few rainbow trout. I had a lot of time to think about life and the future. When I was younger, I would want to fish for 10 hours straight. As much as I still enjoy it, I found myself alone alot and wondering. What I discovered is that the thrill of catching fish for myself was not nearly as meaningful as watching my kids catch fish. When I finally got them into the river and they begin to catch fish for themselves, it was amazing. It made me think about enjoyment that is limited to yourself. It just doesn't mean as much. I read somewhere years ago that when we like something we want other people to enjoy it with us. The author said that "praise" not only expresses the enjoyment but completes it. We want to praise something/ someone and then tell someone else. Think about kids who want to tell you all about their new lego creation or the wife who wants to tell you about strawberries on sale at Albertson's. We have a desire for someone else to enjoy what we are enjoying. It really can't be just anyone... we want to tell our friends. I can tell a homeless person about the fish I caught... but if the right person sees me, then it means so much more.
Do you enjoy forgiveness for your sins ? Why don't we get more excited about telling other people about this ? I just wonder sometimes why we are so "into" the stuff we are into and yet we essentially ignore the commission Jesus gave us. I'm talking to myself here and wondering why I don't share my faith more. I'm tired, I've got too much to do, I'm intimidated and on and on... I heard someone say that in order to cast compelling vision you must be captured by that vision.
What are you captured by today ? Is the extent of your vision your wife's cooking and the remote control for 3 hours in the evening ? Is the extent of your vision an hourly wage and a three day weekend ? Do you ever stop to think about the reality of heaven and hell ? It's so easy to get focused on just "getting through the day" and paying the bills and mowing the lawn and planning the vacation and going to Sam's and cleaning the garage and ..... and ...and...
Luke 9 " He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God..."
