Tim Turner

When I watched this video I was left with an insane desire to lace up some boots(timberlands of course), and climb a mountain. I had a huge adrenaline surge that left my heart rate going up, and my breathing slightly accelerated. It was such an irrational feeling, but I didn’t care. In the end all I wanted was adventure. Why does a minute long advertisement leave me feeling like my life is empty? It only took a short time to realize the answer seems obnoxiously simple. I’m sitting in a jail cell with the door open, and I’m too afraid to leave it.The only thing is, its not just me.

Life was never meant to be misery. I honestly do not believe God was looking forward to caffinated society, and corporate ladders when He made everything. God put in us a desire to create and explore, and yet we seem to ignore it. We make environments for ourselves where we simply live inside the box, and think inside the box. Why? Its safer in the box.

Which brings me back to what I said. Before Christ, there is only slavery to sin. Chains that cannot be broken by the strength of mankind. A taint so dark we cannot wash it out. A plague our medicine cannot cure, that always ends in death. Like I said, though, that was before Christ. We have hope. We have peace. we have freedom…but where is it? Its out the door of my cell, and I’m too afraid to go outside.

John 8:34-36

34Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

I am free, but deep down inside I’m content to live life going through the motions, because I don’t know what God will ask me to do. The fear, I think, is in a lot of us. If I give it to God, if I really let go I might end up in Africa, or in a village of lepers, or on the streets. If we just go through the motions we can act like we don’t sense that there is a deeper adventure to life waiting for us. We can act like we don’t here the whisper of God in our minds telling us to get out of the box and do something amazing. We can live life a little less dangerously.

There is another verse that seems to go really well with this one:

John 10:10

10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

In 07 a gallup poll concluded that 77% of Americans hate their job(source). Its no wonder the number of people considered depressed seems to keep rising every year. We spend temendous amounts of our time at our jobs. Time we spend so that we can make money, pay bills, blow the rest on whatever(or blow it all and not pay the bills like so many), rinse, and repeat. That doesn’t sound very full.

Having a job isn’t evil, but letting it rule your life is. When was the last time we walked outside and appreciated the sunset? Have we stopped to see the leave changing, or the clouds in the sky? When did church buildings become another standard cookie cutter facility and not an great arcitectural testament to God? Why don’t we create with the skills we have? Where is the art?

Life to the full is something so far beyond what most of us live today. Life to the full is embracing the adventure that life holds, including all of the danger accociated with it.

I’m not particularly old, however I’ve lived long enough to know a few things. I do know with a certainty that resonates through my being, that life will never be as full as it will be when living for God. So often we’re terrified by what God might call us to do, but for those few that embrace it, they find that His calling is something so full they can’t contain it within themselves. They simply must share it with everyone around them. We’ve all met that person. They’re like some elusive rare creature. To see a person who is full of life is unfortunately a rare event, but when you meet that person they share their fullness with the ones they see. All people have the ability to live life to the fullest, but it will come down to a choice that will lead them in places they never imagined, so they are afraid.

If you are empty, He can make you full. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

The shackles are off. Stand up, walk out of the cell, and live your life to the fullest.

I was reading through my devotional tonight, and happened across an interesting thought. The chapter was about the event where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. In the book, Max said he tried to find a translation of the bible that said “Jesus did not wash Judas’ feet,” however could not find one. I’ve heard that story a million times, but the thought never occurred to me that Judas was apart of those who Jesus washed.

The very act of washing another’s feet in that culture was a job left for the lowest of the servants, so for Jesus it had a very significant meaning. Jesus laid down one of my favorite examples of leadership in this story, I’ve commonly heard it called “servant-leadership.” Where I work now this simply does not exist, and I think its very apparent. My management doesn’t even attempt to understand the employees or to get on their hands and knees and help. I wonder most days what it would be like if our management, or the management of most companies had a shift where the managers were willing to be servant leaders. My old youth pastor used to say often, “You can’t lead someone where you aren’t going.”

Back to my original point. So Jesus washed the feet of all His disciples, these very men would later abandon Him to hide, and one of them would be the cause of some of the worst pain and suffering a human can endure. Yet, Jesus still thought it fitting to get on the floor and wash the dirt off their feet. I’ve been sitting here asking myself if I really thought I could wash the feet of a “Judas” in my life, and to be quite honest, no I don’t think I could. I have a hard time letting go of anger, and thats why I think its such an amazing example Jesus lays for us here. Think about the people in your life who have betrayed and hurt you, could your humble yourself for their benefit? What about men like Osama Bin Laden, or Hitler, could you wash their feet? Jesus forgave the men who would abandon him before they even committed the act. Can we learn to forgive people regardless of who they are or what they’ve done to us? Can we pray for men like Hitler, and ask God to forgive them? I think the point is Jesus was showing us we can forgive no matter how hard it may be.