Did you ever run away or feel like running away. I ran away once when I was seven. I got into a fight with a kid in the neighborhood and beat him up pretty good. He threatened to tell my parent so my buddies hid me in an old club house that we played in. I think I stayed there for a few hours got bored and hungry and went home.
Lately I have been thinkinng about running away. I would take Jan cause running away from her would be stupid and lonely. So I would take Jan and go off the grid. We would find some remote mountain cabin, stock up on food and just stay gone. Then we would not have to deal with all the stress of living in the American culture and dealing with people and see all the hurt and brokenness that surrounds us. That sounds appealing to me, but Jesus constantly reminds me that life is not about me, life is about Him.
There is an incident in John 6 that the Spirit reminded me of yesterday as I as planning our running away time table. Jesus shares with the disciples and larger group of people that He is the Bread of Life. In verses 53-54 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Not a teaching that will have everyone running to be your follower. I love it when Jesus shares this off the wall teachings. Jesus would not be the pattern you would use to get people to come to your church.
Believe it or not after hearing this many of Jesus disciples turn away from following Him. In verse 60 one of the disciples says, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it." Then Jesus ask the Twelve if they will also turn away from following Him. Then in verse 68 Peter speaks. Well, who else of the Twelve would possibly speak. Peter is the kid in class who raises his hand every time the teacher ask a question whether he knows the answer or not. This time Peter was right on target. He says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
So why am I not going to take Jan and run away? Where would I go? Jesus has everything I need and I don't need to run away to get to Him, He is right here with me all the time. There are days that are struggles, I mean real struggles. I see broken and hurting people in my community. In my church I have brothers and sisters with cancer, money problems, parents with children in rebellion, and marriages struggling to make it. Running away will not help change them. Staying and letting Jesus use us as His instruments will.
Jesus is Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls, but it isn't always a comfortable process. It is, however, always a glorious process.
Joe
"Jesus has everything I need and I don't need to run away to get to Him, He is right here with me all the time." Yes, but don't you feel it might be helpful sometimes to "run away" from a distracting world so that we can hear what He really wants us to know? I think sometimes we get so confused by our busy lives that we fail to understand the basics our Savior would have us master. One of my favorite Scriptures is from Psalm 11: "When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Our Sunday School class was discussing what it takes to be "righteous," and I think that is a basic question we as Christians must seek to answer. It must be a foundational goal of our faith to be righteous, and it is sometimes difficult to listen for the Savior's word during the clamor of our daily lives. Running away may be a solution.........
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