THE GREATEST ADVENTURE

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.” — St. Augustine

2 Timothy 2:11-13
Ephesians 2:1-5
2 Corinthians 4:11

God loves adventures.

Who of us cannot relate to Frodo, and his best friend sidekick Samwise Gamgee? Frodo, the impulsive hero on a mission to deliver the Ring of Power, and Samwise Gamgee, who recognizes that he himself cannot be the carrier of the ring, but he can carry his friend Frodo.

So chapter after chapter in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the steady Samwise keeps his friend Frodo on the rails, despite his frequent diversions from the path.

Or who cannot relate to the four children who visit Narnia through the wardrobe in CS Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia”? They meet Mr. Tumnus, a gracious being, who leads them to other friendly creatures, including Mr. And Mrs. Beaver. He also warns them of the White Witch, and her vast skulduggery.

Somehow these adventures draw us in, but we forget that we are on an adventure of our own. Every day we meet Mr. And Mrs. Beaver in a thousand different forms. We witness the wily deeds of the White Witch. When we see life in this frame, it rescues us from the day-in and day-out boredom that comes from our general sleepwalking through the motions.

Wouldn’t it be better if we maintained a “posture of readiness”? What if we were constantly looking about, consulting our Samwise sidekicks and figuring out why Aslan has connected us to Mr. And Mrs. Beaver again.

We hope for lives of bravery and courage, but at the bottom line, we are just dumb, helpless, defenseless sheep. When our bodies exhibit bravery and courage, it is because our hearts have been filled up with Jesus Himself. His bravery and courage pulses in our veins. If we allow Him, He will live out His life through us.

A hero of mine, Dr. Richard Halverson, described his morning routine once. When he rose in the morning, he went to his study and read the Scriptures, then he prayed, attempting to give every small portion of his being to God for that day. One at a time, he consciously offered God his body, his mind, his energy, his money, his possessions, until he had nothing else to give. He literally dumped all that he was and all that he had on the table in front of God. Then he would ask God to put on the flesh of Jesus himself, so that Jesus could live out His life through him.

Paul writes to Timothy that “We have died with Him so that we might live with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11). When we understand these things, we have all that it takes to live a life of great adventure.

What does a “posture of readiness” look like to you?
What themes can you identify in your journey?
In what way might you be fixated on the next page, instead of the current one?

Brad