Life To The Full
It's 8am and I have been on a weird Thai party bus for two hours now. My teammates and I are with our hosts taking a group of about twenty children from a leper colony to ride elephants somewhere near the jungle. The bus is bouncing. There is Thai pop music blaring over the speakers. There is American worship music blaring in my headphones. The rest of my team are strewn about the seats around me passed out with their earbuds in. The Thai countryside is whizzing by outside of my window and the realization just hit me that it is month three of the World Race, I'm in Thailand, and I'm about to ride an elephant. I'm looking like a crazy person. I have a shaggy beard. I'm wearing a Thai trucker hat I just bought at the 7eleven, and my bright red pair of knockoff shades. This is my life now. This absurd reality is what God has called me to. This is my new "normal" and it probably isn't going to change after this eleven month journey is over.
Something that I am starting to realize is just how crazy life can get now that I am following Jesus. In John chapter 10, Jesus says that he has "come to bring life and life to the full." He wasn't joking. Yes, He did come to give us salvation. A life given to Jesus does get us into Heaven and that's awesome ( I mean really freakin awesome). He also offers us an amazingly full life while we are still here on earth, though. Yes, He did say that following Him wasn't going to be easy (and it's not). There is pain. There are hard times when I question my faith. There are times when all I can do is scream at the top of my lungs then whimper out a prayer. There are times when the beauty and wonder of His creation hits me so hard my heart almost stops beating in my chest. There are times when I experience so much of His love that all I can do is stand there trembling or laugh uncontrollably. All of this is part of living the full life He promises.
If a person truly follows Jesus, they have answered a call to make disciples, to love radically, to expand His kingdom wherever they go. In just two and a half short months my team and I have stood in front of a countless number of churches in three different countries and preached the gospel through our testimonies and His word. We have climbed to a Hindu temple on top of a mountain and prayed over a Brahman priest. We have cast out multiple demons and seen people find freedom. We have baptized new believers. We have prayed for healing and seen those prayers answered. We have loved. We have worshipped. We have laughed. We have cried. We have learned to talk things out and to really listen when others are speaking. We have experienced true Christian community. We have lived.
It is only two and a half months into my Race. There is still eight and a half months left in this seasons journey. If God has already shown me this much in such a short time, I can't even begin to fathom what He has for me in the months and years and decades to come. Jesus stretched out His hands and bought my ticket into an eternal life with Him. There is no work that I need to do to gain salvation. It is finished. That doesn't mean that there isn't still work for me to do while I'm here. What I will do is live and love radically. I will fight for those out there who are still lost, still in bondage, still in oppression. I will build the kingdom one block at a time. I will pray. I will follow Him and I will experience all of the craziness He has for me along the way. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I pray that all of you will take advantage of the "life to the full" that Jesus promises. Love Y'all!!!
