DayBreaks for the Week of 4/8/24 – The Invulnerable City

DayBreaks for the Week of 4/08/24 – The Invulnerable City Sometimes it is hard to realize that nothing in this world lasts forever.  It extends all the way from nations, to love, to corporations, and even to our pets, whose mortality we don’t like to contemplate.  One of the mightiest nations in the ancient world was ancient Rome.  Their nation survived for nearly 1000 years from the time it was supposedly founded by the brothers Romulus and Remus on the banks of the Tiber, until it fell in 410 A.D.  One young man who had lived and reveled in the streets of Rome throughout his younger years became one of the greatest theologians in church history.  His name was Augustine, and after being told that the city of Rome had been sacked, he said, “All earthly cities are vulnerable.  Men build them and men destroy them.  At the same time there is the City of God which men did not build and cannot destroy and which is everlasting.”  Catastrophes are, well, catastrophic.  The fall of Rome was not only inconceivable to those who felt secure in the city and nation, but when it happened, it had to be one of the most terrifying experiences they ever lived through.  Their security was gone.  The enemy was not only at the gates but had burst through.  What would become of the inhabitants?  As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” but it turned out to be shocking how quickly it could fall. The kingdom of God – or the City of God as Augustine referred to it – wasn’t built in a day, either.  It is still being built.  It was established and founded by the Lord Jesus Christ who was God with us, who proclaimed “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”  We can forget, if we’re not careful, that we aren’t just Americans, or Canadians, or South Africans.  We are living stones in the kingdom of God that is here, now, living, and powerful.  Every nation that has ever been built up has been torn down.  And that’s the way it will be until the end of time.  At that point, after trampling all enemies and kings and nations under his feet, the Kingdom of God will begin in fullness and glory and timeless perfection.  There will be no generals or politicians who make strategic mistakes that will doom God’s kingdom.  You see, Augustine had it right: men cannot destroy that which God has decreed to be everlasting.  As frightening as this world gets sometimes, as terrified and insecure as we may sometimes feel, we need to be reminded that we aren’t citizens of this world in the ultimate sense, nor of a given nation or race.  We are destined for eternity and for an everlasting, invulnerable city. Daniel 7:13-14 (NLT) – As my vision continued that night, I saw someone who looked like a man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, honor, and royal power over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed. PRAYER: Lord, we look forward to the city not made with hands, in which righteousness dwells forever!  In Jesus’ name, Amen. Copyright 2024 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for 12/22/21 – The Shape of Christmas

From the DayBreaks archive:

I was in Costco recently and I was standing in the checkout line when I noticed two young boys (about 8 years old) who were standing in the next line.  Behind them was a man who had a large stuffed tiger in his shopping basket.  The boys were enthralled, and the joy on the man’s face of knowing how his child would love having the stuffed tiger was evident.  For some little child, Christmas this year may come in the shape of that stuffed tiger. 

In Lion and Lamb, Brennan Manning wrote: “Jesus does not dominate my life.  Any tree in my path seems to have more power than he, if only because it forces me to walk around it…what would life be like if Christ did rule in me?  If during Advent my primary concern were His Kingdom? …What shape would Advent and Christmas take, if Jesus really RULED in me?

“If He did, that is, if my faith were deep, burning, powerful and passionate, my life would be very different.  My self-esteem would cease to be based upon the worldly values of possessions, prestige, status, and privilege, and upon the group solidarities of family, race, class, religion, and nation.  For to make these my supreme values is to have nothing in common with Jesus.  With burning faith I would speak of Jesus not as some distant being but as a close friend with whom I have a personal relationship.  The invisible world would become more real than the visible, the world of what I see, Christ more real than myself.

“…It stands to reason that if during the Advent season we relegate Jesus and what He stands for to second place on our scale of values, then we have already denied Him and what He stands for.  Either you accept the Kingdom of Jesus understood it or you don’t.  You cannot serve two masters.”

Jesus came not only to save you, but to make you different.  To transform your mind (Rom 12:2) – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

To the extent that Jesus rules in us, our lives will take the shape of His not just at Christmas, but all year long.  What shape will your Christmas take this year? 

PRAYER: We are prone to think of You more during this season, Lord, and to forget about you for much of the rest of the year.  We invite you to shape our lives to fully conform to Yours!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 8/9/21 – Kingdom Perspective

Some number of years ago, J. B. Phillips wrote a book titled, Your God is too Small.  It says things that we need to be reminded of often.  But there’s a perhaps subtle extension of this which creeps into our Christian minds.  We feel outnumbered, outgunned and intimidated by our “small time” occupation as Christians.  We may even feel apologetic about it from time to time.  We may feel inclined, when in decidedly non-Christian circles, we are asked about what we do, why we do it and what we believe.  After all, it takes some gumption to stand in front of non-believers and boast in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Perhaps that’s why I liked what Russ Blowers, a minister in Indianapolis, had to say when he was asked to introduce himself and describe his profession at a Rotary Club meeting.  He could have just said, “I’m a preacher”, but he was led by the Spirit to have a kingdom perspective that we all would do well to share. 

“Hi, I’m Russ Blowers.  I’m with a global enterprise.  We have branches in every country in the world.  We have representatives in nearly every parliament and boardroom on earth.  We’re into motivation and behavior alteration.  We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis-pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses, and nursing homes.  We care for your clients from birth to death.  We are into life insurance and fire insurance.  We perform spiritual heart transplants.  Our original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations.  He knows everything and lives everywhere.  Our product is free for the asking.  (There’s not enough money to buy it.)  Our CEO was born in a hick town, worked as a carpenter, didn’t own a home, was misunderstood by his family and hated by his enemies, walked on water, was condemned to death without a trial, and arose from the dead.  I talk with him every day.”

Wow.   Is that good, or what?  A decidedly different perspective than I would have probably shared.  But is there a word in his description that isn’t true?  And aren’t we all a part of this incredible global enterprise?  We all know that there is nothing in the world more important than saving the lost from an eternity without God, without hope, without relief.  Yet when we are asked about our faith, when Christianity is attacked and slandered by the enemy, we meekly lower our voice and whisper, “Yes, I’m a believer” and then say something to derail the conversation into something about the weather or current events and hope the “religious’ conversation dies off. 

Isaiah 24:15-16 – Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.”

No matter what you do, if you are a Christian, you can share Russ’ attitude.  You can talk with the CEO of the Universe every moment of every day.  You aren’t a nuisance to Him – His door is always open to you and He’s eager to have you drop by.  This Christianity thing isn’t something that is done behind closed church doors – it is meant to be exploded on the global stage and made visible for all the world to see – just like the crucifixion was visible. 

What are you doing with your part of this global enterprise?

PRAYER: Take our perspective away from this world and its attractions and teach us to have Kingdom perspective!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021, Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 2/26/21 – A Place in the Choir

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. – Matthew 22:2-10

Do you have a good singing voice?  Perhaps your answer depends on what you consider a good singing voice!  Do you sing, for example, better than your next-door neighbor, or your spouse?  Can you carry a tune in a bucket at best?  Do you have the voice of Celine Dion or Andrea Bocelli?  (Who does, right?)

Sometimes we don’t even attempt things because we’re embarrassed.  Sometimes we don’t because we’re ashamed.  Sometimes we don’t because we’re afraid of failure.  Sometimes we sit and twiddle our thumbs because we’re either too lazy or too tired to anything else.  Sometimes, we just think we don’t fit, that we’re not worthy. 

There’s a great children’s song that’s entitled, “All God’s creatures got a place in the choir.” The chorus says, “All God’s creatures got a place in the choir, some sing low and some sing higher. Some sing out loud on a telephone wire and some just clap their hands or paws or anything they’ve got.”

Instead of that old message, “No Oddballs Allowed,” let’s proclaim the message that Christ demonstrated during his life.  He ate with publicans and sinners, with cheating tax collectors, with lepers, drunkards…and prostitutes.  What was Jesus trying to tell us?  Perhaps simply this: “All God’s creatures got a place in the choir.” There’s room for everyone in God’s Kingdom.  Even me.

PRAYER: Thank you for making a place for us in the choir, Lord, and for saving our seat until we get there!!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021, Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 8/11/20 – When Kingdoms Collide

From the DayBreaks archive, August 2010:

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is’ or “There it is’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”  – Luke 17:20-21

It seems to be the rage today among Christians to get involved with politics.  Every party, Democrat, Republican, or “Tea Party” seems to want to court the evangelical community because of the sheer number of votes it represents.  It is far less clear to me that any of those groups really care what the evangelical community believes or stands for (perhaps that may be because we’ve so confused the world by the divisions within the body of Christ and the willingness of one group or another to throw out parts of Scripture that they don’t like personally.)  They do, however, want our votes!

I see many Christians today who are terribly worried and dismayed about the direction in which our country is moving.  I can understand that.  I’m very concerned about it, too.  But I’m resolved not to worry about it.  Jesus indicated that the kingdoms of this world would not live in harmony with His kingdom – in fact, they can’t even live in peace with one another, let alone an entirely different kind of kingdom.  Jesus hinted at this collision of kingdoms when he said that we should give Caesar what is his, but to God what rightfully belongs to Him. 

Many Christians expend huge amounts of time and energy in political discussions.  I am grateful that there are believers who feel called to the political arena.  But I don’t think Jesus wants us to be overly worried about the “kingdom” in which we live (America), because we should be so consumed about the most important Kingdom we belong to: the Kingdom of God.  God never said to America that we are a chosen nation, as He said to Israel.  While it may be true generally that if we pray and humble ourselves and repent that God will hear, heal and restore our land – but that promise was specifically made to Israel at the time Solomon’s temple was dedicated. 

Do I worry about where America is headed?  Yes…and no.  I am blessed to be an American citizen, but far more blessed to be a citizen of God’s kingdom.  And I need not fear, regardless of what happens to America, that the American government nor any other government ever upon the face of this earth can do to God’s kingdom.  After all, Jesus made it very clear: the very gates of hell itself won’t prevail against His kingdom.  One thing I’m sure of is this: if the gates of hell are not able to prevail against His Kingdom, neither the U.S. government nor any other government surely will not be able to make it fall!

My job as a believer and citizen in His kingdom is to not just Christianize America and turn us into a Christian nation.  My job, and your job, is to be salt and light, and to win citizens for His Kingdom which is far greater!

PRAYER: Father, may we rest in Your Kingdom’s sure coming in glory and power! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright by 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple.  ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 7/07/20 – Hope for Troubled Times

DayBreaks for 7/07/20: Hope for Troubled Times

Daniel 2:44 (CSBBible) – In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.

What an amazing time we live in. Pandemics, scandals, demonstrations, riots, political division that is truly painful to see. It’s easy to lose our sense of balance in such a time.

I think Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream speaks to us at this moment, and every moment, in time. What Daniel tells the king (who was far and away the most powerful earthly ruler of his day) was this: a mighty kingdom is coming that will smash any earthly kingdom into smithereens. It’s not a kingdom of this world, but it is the kingdom of God himself.

As Jared Wilson put it in The Story of Everything: “It is the reality of the kingdom of God…that should comfort Christians today, not the rising and falling of popular opinion or the ways of the Supreme Court or the majority votes in Congress or the moral sanity of the president. All those people are sinners. We can root for them and persuade them and pray for them and hope for them – but we cannot hope in them, because none of them is not a sinner. Only Jesus Christ’s kingdom comes with perfect grace and peace and justice. And only Jesus Christ’s kingdom will remain.”

It may seem strange to think of the kingdom of Christ conquering all when we look around today. After all, when Christ came it was as a baby and he died not in a palace but on a wooden cross. When he came he didn’t come as a typical king does to fight and conquer and amass territory and wealth. Why didn’t he come that way? He didn’t have to. He already possessed it all. As Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”

Be reminded, Christian, not to put your hope or faith in the president or in an election or in the scientists working to prevent COVID-19 or in anything else in this world. The one thing that is worthy of our hope is the completion of the coming of the kingdom of Christ. And that is where our prayers and efforts should be focused.

PRAYER: Jesus, we long to see the mighty kingdom come in its totality and finality. Keep us from trusting in other humans for deliverance and look only to you! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright by 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple.  ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 4/10/20 – The Hallway Through the Sea #16: On the Cross and the Kingdom

From Christianity Today and Tim Dalrymple, 4/09/20:

The following is the latest in a series of daily meditations amid the pandemic. For today’s musical pairing, as we enter Good Friday, consider this unhurried version of the Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem. 

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 53:3–6

Meditation 16. 1,536,979 confirmed cases, 93,425 deaths globally.
There are four passages in Isaiah often called the Songs of the Suffering Servant. The longest and most renowned is Isaiah 52:13–53:12. Jews read these passages and hear the story of Israel itself, as God redeemed the sufferings of his chosen people to bring blessing to the world. Christians, of course, hear the story of Jesus and his suffering on behalf of humankind.

Both can be true. As Holy Week makes excruciatingly clear, Jesus was “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” He was “pierced for our transgressions,” “led like a lamb to the slaughter,” and “cut off from the land of the living,” an “offering for sin.” “After he has suffered,” says verse 11, “he will see the light of life” and “will justify many.”

As we discussed in a recent meditation, Jesus seeks not only admirers but imitators. Time and again he defines following him as dying to ourselves and taking up our cross. Even as he is a Suffering Servant, he calls his church to be a fellowship of suffering servants.

In the words of Henri Nouwen, we are all called to be wounded healers. “The great illusion of leadership,” he writes in The Wounded Healer, “is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.” Or, better, “The beginning and the end of all Christian leadership is to give your life for others.”

The Cross is our key to the kingdom. It shows us all the truths we would rather forget. That the kingdom of God is not about power and triumph, because all the might of the world cannot heal the hearts of men… (Click this link to read the rest of the meditation.)

Link to Christianity Today’s Facebook page

The Hallway Through the Sea is a series of daily meditations from the president and CEO of Christianity Today, written specifically for those struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. It will address our sense of fear and isolation and also the ways we find beauty and truth and hope—and Christ himself—in the midst of suffering. The title of the column alludes to the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea. We are a people redeemed from our enslavement to sin, yet we find ourselves living between where we were and where we are meant to be. Danger looms on both sides, but our hope and our faith is that God will deliver us through the sea and into the land of promise. If you wish, you can follow Timothy Dalrymple on Twitter @TimDalrymple_

PREVIOUS THE HALLWAY THROUGH THE SEA COLUMNS:

Out of the Depths

Chosen in the Furnace

The First Word and the Last

More . . .

Link to video with facts, symptoms and prevention tips about coronavirus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AITtaAAAdYc

Copyright by 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple.  ><}}}”>

 

DayBreaks for 9/26/17 – The Reality of Now

DayBreaks for 9/26/18 – The Reality of Now       

From the DayBreaks archive, September 2008:

John 17:3: Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Lk. 17:20-21: The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.

If you are like most of us, we think of heaven as being “out there” somewhere in the future.  The place of heaven isn’t so much of a topic for thought as is the time when we shall arrive there.  We can easily trust that heaven will not only meet, but infinitely surpass our wildest imaginings.  And perhaps that’s why, when life caves in, we long and hunger for it to come soon.  I think such things are only normal and natural.

But God has a way of not operating in normal or “natural” ways.  And the things that the inspired writers of Scripture captured for us deserve more attention.  Jesus, in his own words, says that eternal life is “that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”  Isn’t that interesting?  Heaven is not a particularly a place (although there is such a place), but what makes heaven heavenly is the knowing of God and Jesus which we will experience.  And, by the way, it is available, and present, now…not just out there in the future.

The Luke passage is even more stunning: it won’t be something we see coming, this kingdom of God, but it is within us.  A kingdom is the place where a king rules, where he lives.  We might think of the kingdom of God as being heaven (and that’s not incorrect) but the fact is that God’s rule is everywhere…and His Presence is, believe it or not, within us.  That means that His kingdom is also within us…now. 

As Mark Buchanan said in Things Unseen: “There is something about heaven that we must grasp, because if we don’t, we’ll miss everything else.  We’ll read the music but never sing, study the choreography but never dance.  It’s this: heaven starts now.

“Eternity is not primarily a measure of time – chronological time stretched to infinity.  It is not first and foremost a place.  Eternity is primarily a quality of relationship.  It is first and foremost a presence; to know God and Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the one claim Christianity makes that is the most offensive to the world and presents the greatest stumbling block is that there is only one why to God…and that way is belief in Jesus (not in Mohammed, Buddha, or any other person).  All a Christian has to do is say, “Christianity, Jesus Christ, is the only way to God,” and you’ll instantly be branded as a closed-minded, bigoted person.  But when you understand that eternal life is to know Jesus (as Jesus said in John 17), it makes perfect sense.  If eternal life is to know him, if you don’t know him – there cannot be eternal life.  Heaven is intimate knowledge, not of something, but of Someone – the only true God and Jesus Christ, the one He sent.

PRAYER: Almighty Lord, we long to know you better, to experience in greater measure and purity the eternal life that only comes from knowing You.  Keep us from the pride in our hearts and minds that might tell us that we already know you, guard us so that we don’t stop seeking to learn to know you better each passing day.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

COPYRIGHT 2018 by Galen C. Dalrymple. All rights reserved.

DayBreaks for 7/12/18 – Out of the Kingdom of Darkness

The world watched with baited breath as a small army of divers and rescue personnel descended into a treacherous and deadly cave in an effort to rescue the “Wild Boars” – a soccer team and their coach, who had become trapped when monsoon rains flooded parts of the cave system. For a period approaching 10-12 days, the boys and their coach were in the cave with very little food. They drank water that dripped from the cave ceiling. And they were in darkness…total, utter darkness. I read that one of the boys in particular was terrified of darkness but he went with his teammates in an effort to overcome his fear. 

Fortunately, seemingly miraculously, all twelve boys and their coach made it out alive thanks to the sacrifices of their rescuers. Tragically, on Thai navy SEAL diver died during the effort to rescue these boys.

Colossians 1:13 (ESV) – He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…

If you want to know what the kingdom of darkness looks like, just ask those boys. They know what darkness means. You can’t see. It is a place of fear. It is a place of want. It is uncomfortable and threatening. You long for light. It gnaws at you and causes you to give up hope and despair of rescue.

If you want to know what gratitude feels like, just ask those boys. Can you begin to imagine how their hearts leaped when the British divers with a headlight on their foreheads first popped up in the darkness and found the boys? Can you imagine how hope must have been reborn in that instant that they first saw light again? Can you try to imagine how each boy felt when at long last they exited the mouth of the cave that had held them captive and threatened them with certain death unless a miracle happened?

I don’t think most of us have a clue as to how dark was the kingdom that held us in its clutches. We don’t often see it as darkness because it is a darkness of the spirit brought about by the blackness of sin. The enemy of our souls makes it appear as light – he’s such a good liar – and we fall for it over and over again. For a sense of what it was like inside the caves, see this (and that was the easy part – try imagining even that without flashlights in passages as small as 15 inches wide!)

But miraculously, someone came searching for us, found us, and led us out of that inky black place into a kingdom diametrically opposite to that which held us. He is the Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

But just as with the twelve boys and their coach, someone gave their life to rescue us. Unlike that navy SEAL diver, though, the one who gave his life for us came back to life and now guides us through the darkness of the former kingdom to the light. He’s been through that blackness of death that would kill us and been victorious over it so that he knows the way out of the darkness. We need not fear. He will not fail us!  

We should be terrified of the darkness that surrounds us for when it is seen clearly it is terrifying. But we should never doubt our rescue or our Rescuer. 

And one more thing: our Rescuer has turned the tables on darkness. While it was dangerous for us as we were trapped there, now that we have been delivered not only do we no longer need to fear the darkness itself, but he has made us dangerous to the kingdom of darkness because now we have experienced the way out and can help others find the Light. 

It’s a dark, dark world. Let’s be brighter. 

PRAYER: Jesus, all glory to you for descending into the darkness, experiencing it, for your victory over it, so that you could lead us into your kingdom of Light and Life. May we never take the Light for granted! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

COPYRIGHT 2018 by Galen C. Dalrymple. All rights reserved.

DayBreaks for 6/15/18 – The Lifestyle of a Tourist

From the DayBreaks archive, June 2008:

It was only about a month ago that I was a tourist.  My wife and I were on vacation in Florida, at the world’s number one vacation city: Orlando.  We lived in Florida many years ago, but I was stunned at how much Orlando had changed.  The air was still hot and humid, but everything else had changed.  The orange groves that used to blossom and smell so sweet were nowhere to be seen.  But there I was, in my shorts and touristy-looking shirts.  I’m sure that wherever we went, we were quickly spotted as tourists. 

Tourists live a different lifestyle than residents.  Tourists don’t have to get up and go to work in the mornings.  Tourists don’t have to cook, mow the grass, wash the car or water the lawn.  When you’re a tourist, someone does all that for you.  And that’s not bad.

But what is sad is when Christians start to live all their lives as if they are tourists.  By that I don’t mean living as sojourners in a strange land – for we are to live like that!  What is bad about being a Christian living as if you’re a tourist is that tourists are often living on a tight schedule – too many things planned to see and do and not enough time to really enjoy any of it.  And so tourists want shortcuts – shortcuts through the lines at DisneyWorld, shortcuts through security at the airport, shortcuts to getting your luggage and to hit the road for adventure. 

Christians live like tourists when we want shortcuts through the life that God has designed and given to us.  We want instant sermons, shorter worship.  People seem to want a list of things they can do that will earn them instant credit at the gates of heaven.  People, Christians – don’t want to take the longer way and learn things as they go.  We are far too impatient for results and don’t focus nearly enough on the process and what it is meant to teach us.  It is interesting that, of all people, Friedrich Nietzsche (who was certainly no friend of Christ or Christianity) saw this so clearly: “The essential thing ‘in heaven and earth’ is…that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.”  And the world tries to crush that “long obedience in the same direction” out of us, leading us to despair and give up.

Yes, we are like nomads in this world.  But we are not to be tourists.  We are residents here.  We are to engage in the sometimes long and painful processes that shape us, and which in turn, shape the world.  God isn’t looking for heavenly tourists – he wants folks who are coming to the kingdom to stay! 

PRAYER: Jesus, you persevered so much in this world and have given us an illustration of what it means to live as a stranger in a foreign place, yet remain fully engaged with life.  Help us to be patient – to see the blessing in the process and not just in the ending.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

COPYRIGHT 2018 by Galen C. Dalrymple. All rights reserved.