Knock Your Socks Off (November 16, 2012)

…Opening To…

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say. (J.R.R. Tolkien)

…Listening In…

During the journey, as [Saul] approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven encircled him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him, “Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?” Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are harassing,” came the reply. “Now get up and enter the city. You will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:3-6; context)

…Filling Up…

Do you want your life to change? When you find Jesus or when Jesus finds you, don’t expect him to hand you a pamphlet on Christianity and send you on your way. Expect him to knock your socks off. Expect God’s love to hit you hard and leave you breathless because the next breath you breathe in will be a breath of the Holy Spirit. The next step you take after that momentous, life-changing occasion will be a vaulting leap forward.

The apostle Paul was literally knocked to the ground. You remember him, right? His name was Saul first. It was changed when he was. Saul was railing against those upstart followers of Jesus of Nazareth. He was persecuting them. He was hunting them. He stood by and watched Stephen, the first martyr, as Stephen was stoned to death. And then on the road to Damascus, Jesus cried out to him. Jesus found him on the road. Jesus knocked down, and the brilliance of God blinded him. The next time Paul opened his eyes, he couldn’t see anything in front of him, but he could see a new road beginning at his feet. It was the road that Jesus set before him.

The road is long, but Christ is tireless. When we need rest, we will find it. When we need strength, it will be there. I began this week talking about things falling into place. I know that if we keep striving to find Jesus in all that we do, the pieces will continue to fall. They may not fall into the places that we expect them to or want them to, but they will fall into place.

The road goes ever on, and we follow it with weary feet, but the one who is the road, the one who walks with us on the road, the one to whom the road is leading – our God – will keep us from stumbling.

…Praying For…

Dear God, you breath life into me with each breath and you pick me up off the ground when I fall down. Help me to rely on you as I journey down your road. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.