Soooooo.... the impossible was, well Impossible. I took James' advice to take the other route and boy am I happy I did! Let's go back to the story... Sunday night James and I had another bonfire, he broke out the guitars and we jammed for a while. Just me and him, the bonfire, and the night sky. It was awesome to play the guitar again. I don't remember the last time I picked up a guitar but I'm glad I did. I didn't realize how much I've missed it... you know, creating music. I gotta be honest though since I haven't played for so long I lost a lot of my skills. Use it or lose it, right? Well, I'm pretty sure I lost it but that's okay.
After jammin for a while we put down the guitars and start talking about the walk again. I had to pray right then and there for myself (to myself, not out loud). I asked the Lord to soften my heart cause I can get pretty stubborn at times and when I get something in my head I recklessly rush into it. I told James my plan to go ahead and bury water and food every 30 miles but he was not convinced. He was still concerned about the Roosevelt tunnel and the mountain pass, Vale with all the snow. He was adamant, "go highway 40!" We went over it so many times that at some point I zoned out and wasn't thinking about the route anymore. I still had a lot of things I wanted to say to him... I wanted to bring back our conversation from the night before that we didn't get to finish. It was really important to me.
After jammin for a while we put down the guitars and start talking about the walk again. I had to pray right then and there for myself (to myself, not out loud). I asked the Lord to soften my heart cause I can get pretty stubborn at times and when I get something in my head I recklessly rush into it. I told James my plan to go ahead and bury water and food every 30 miles but he was not convinced. He was still concerned about the Roosevelt tunnel and the mountain pass, Vale with all the snow. He was adamant, "go highway 40!" We went over it so many times that at some point I zoned out and wasn't thinking about the route anymore. I still had a lot of things I wanted to say to him... I wanted to bring back our conversation from the night before that we didn't get to finish. It was really important to me.
I'm going to share with you what I was thinking that first night at the bonfire... I was thinking about Luke 10:25-28 NIV
"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
I love this passage! Its talking about eternal life and what so interesting is that the God who created the universe tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus says love me and love others. Now check out this next verse Matthew 25:31-40 NIV
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
I am no bible scholar and I think there can be so much to be said about these verses but I'm going to try and link these 2 together and keep it as simple as possible.
The point of taking care of those in need is because you love God. NOT because we are trying to score points with Him so we can get into heaven.
Both these verses talk about serving others. The part I thinks that ties these together is Matthew 25:40 NIV
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Here is an illustration I thought of. I hope it gets the point across. Let's say your best friend in the world has a kid and the kid is on the side of the road in distress. They got in a wreck so you stop to help and make sure they are safe and not alone. You might drive them home if need be. You do that cause you love your friend, not to score points or balance your wrongs some how. Now lets say that in the same story you didn't stop. You drove by and didn't help. And let's say your friend found out that you didn't stop and help their child when they were in need. How do you think your best friend would feel? My point is this, as a man that professes to love Jesus the reason I am walking across America and the reason why St is in Africa doing all the work for Uzmia is because we love Jesus! With all we are and to the best of our abilities we are going to serve those in need. Not so we can balance out our wrongs or score points to get to heaven but to serve because we love.
Here is an illustration I thought of. I hope it gets the point across. Let's say your best friend in the world has a kid and the kid is on the side of the road in distress. They got in a wreck so you stop to help and make sure they are safe and not alone. You might drive them home if need be. You do that cause you love your friend, not to score points or balance your wrongs some how. Now lets say that in the same story you didn't stop. You drove by and didn't help. And let's say your friend found out that you didn't stop and help their child when they were in need. How do you think your best friend would feel? My point is this, as a man that professes to love Jesus the reason I am walking across America and the reason why St is in Africa doing all the work for Uzmia is because we love Jesus! With all we are and to the best of our abilities we are going to serve those in need. Not so we can balance out our wrongs or score points to get to heaven but to serve because we love.
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