What Fuels Your Journey?

For Christ’s love compels us.  2 Corinthians 5:14

The Old Testament heroes of the faith had so little to fuel their journey.  All they had were the words God spoke to them.  They had no church to fan the flame of faith.  No bible.  No bible studies.  No fellow believers.  They were virtually alone and the only ones in their world to hear God’s voice.  They clung to His words in a vacuum.

Sometimes, we feel alone.  We’re so outnumbered humanly speaking.  God calls us to Himself and calls us to live against the grain of our culture.  Because the world hated Jesus, we were warned that they will hate us as well.  We must go against the tide of society.  The cost is steep but the rewards more than compensate.

Today, perhaps we stand in faithfulness in the vacuum of the workplace.  We’re the only ones who won’t manipulate, won’t engage in dishonesty, won’t use others for advancement.  What should cause others to respect us can quickly turn to scorn.  Consider the county clerk in Kentucky!

We stand in faithfulness in the vacuum of our families.  We are aware that Jesus could come at any moment.  We are focused and live ready to meet Him.  This hope has divided families as unbelievers question the sanity of those who share their last name.  We are labeled ‘brainwashed’ and ‘gullible’ as we speak of end times.

The love of God, expressed in Christ, constrains us to live out our faith despite the prospect of great suffering.   What gives me the courage today to stay the course is only one thing ~ my love for Jesus.  No feelings of guilt or obligation can motivate me to spend my life.  And, I can’t live off of someone else’s faith either.  There isn’t enough inspirational rhetoric in the Christian community to impart courage in the face of discrimination, even martyrdom.  Only a love affair with Jesus makes it worth it.

You gave Your life for me when I hated You.  I give my life for You when all You’ve ever done is love me.  In Jesus name, Amen