True or False: A Christian life is a boring life.
Many believe this to be true. When they think of what it means to live like a Christian, they think of spending all your time trying to be good, avoiding trouble, and living a safe life. But when we look at the lives of God’s people in the Bible, we see this is far from the picture God paints. Following God is dangerous, nerve-wracking, gut-wrenching business. Dare I say, it is even an adventure?
Let’s start at the beginning, with Adam. One of the first things the Bible records Adam doing is naming the animals (Genesis 2). I’ve never thought much about that, but once I did I realized what an amazing adventure that would have been! Imagine being in the Garden of Eden and having a large bird with a long bare neck walk up to you. You walk around it, pet it on the head, maybe even jump on and go for a ride as you contemplate what you should call it.
After that a tiny creature appears that you hadn’t noticed before. You stoop to pick it up, and as you do it rolls into a tight ball in the palm of your hand. You roll it around for a minute then hold still to see if it will unroll for you. As it does, you allow it to crawl around and tickle your fingers. One by one you name the animals as you play with the lion cubs, ride a horse for the first time, and learn to make bird calls.
What kind of adventure would it be if there wasn’t romance and a villain involved? We, of course, know the story of the fall of mankind when Eve & Adam succumbed to the wiles of the devil and humans were banned from the Garden of Eden. Fortunately, that is just the beginning of the adventure.
Working our way through the Old Testament will take us from one adventure to another: Noah building the ark and the world getting a reboot; Abraham being called away from home to an unknown land promised to his descendents by God, Jacob’s romance with Rachel and the conniving manipulation of his father-in-law; Joseph’s big dream, sale into slavery by his brothers, and rise to become one of the greatest leaders in Egypt; the birth of Moses and ultimate freedom of Israel; Joshua and the entry into the Promised Land—the list is extensive. Family drama, forbidden love, war, politics, social changes, they all happen in the Old Testament.
Fast forward to the New Testament and we see Jesus amazing crowds, angering the religious and political leaders, upsetting social norms, overturning tables, and overturning the way people view God, neighbors, and the world around them. Jesus then faces death and soon afterwards His disciples must do the same as they begin spreading the Word of Christ around the world.
The epiphany I had and hope you have as well, is that following Jesus isn’t about being safe. It is about having the faith to follow Jesus when the road is dark and the way is uncertain. He may call you to do something scary. He may ask you to do things you don’t feel prepared for. But He will be with you every step of the way, and I promise you don’t want to miss the adventure He has planned for you.
I plan on building a new habit. Each morning when I get out of bed, regardless of how mundane my day appears, I’ll ask God to go on an adventure with me. What unforeseen blessings and thrills await us if we change our mindset in this manner? What opportunities will God bring to our door if we are open to Him bringing the adventure to us as we go about our day? Who might be drawn into the adventure as they see your story unfolding?
Jesus, let’s go on an adventure today. Won’t you join us?