Our host this month, Marcos, loves to cut up. He loves to poke fun of our little quirks or how we pronounce certain Spanish words, and to brake check us when we are on our way to the supermarket piled three-high in his compact car. He loves his family, which is his wife Poly, his son Tito, and daughter Valentina. Last Sunday we had another World Race team visit us from 3 hours away and, let me tell you, Marcos and his family know how to put on a party. Out of the blue, he brings in a big Bluetooth speaker (complete with blinking disco lights) and we danced for hours. We taught him American dances and they taught us a few Chilean moves.
But underneath the goofiness is a warm wisdom that all who encounter him are blessed to experience. We’ve been lucky enough to be able to sit down with Marcos and learn from him. It’s a little difficult to have a full conversation because of the language barrier, but since we use google translate I’ve been able to write down some of the words of wisdom he’s shared with us. He really likes to ask the hard questions, too.
The other night during a game of Boggle, Marcos came in to the kitchen. We ended up talking with him for about an hour.
One question he asked us was, “I am willing to obey (God), are you?” Of course, we all answered, “yes”. But then he countered that with, “All your life or just 11 months?” He knew he’d hit us with a good one because he waited a second for us to pick our jaws up off the floor.
He continued, “We were not called to live to have a comfortable life, but to glorify God. The call of the gospel is a call to die.” We talked about that for a while and then he said, “He transformed my life and that’s enough to lay down my life.”
We shouldn’t be afraid to live out this calling. Hosea 13:14 says, “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?”. Death has no power over us anymore with Jesus Christ. For the rest of this journey I’m going to try to live out every day as I’m obeying God and I’m willing to die to myself for Him, even physically. It’s not about my needs anymore, it’s only Him.
We sang a song at training camp called “Only Jesus”. The chorus says “Let my heart want for nothing, but you, just you…. For me, for me, only Jesus”. This song and the previous verse speak life into everything Marcos said to us that night. If we sing this song as a prayer to the Lord that we only want to want for Him, then there’s no way we would be afraid to die to ourselves and for Him.
