FOR WHICH HOME
ARE YOU SICK?
Last week, I was the Dean for the eight and nine-year-olds, at our local Christian camp. I must say that the camp went wonderfully well. The Lord blessed us with a great bunch of children, and great weather to boot — nary a drop of rain hit the ground! A great time was had by all, and as usual, one of the highlights of the week was the evening we went on our whale watching tour. Once again, we had the pleasure of sharing the company of a Finback. For those of you who have inquiring minds, Finback whales are the second largest whales in the ocean, reaching upwards of eighty to ninety feet long. To see a whale of that size swimming next to you is one of those experiences that makes you realize how precious a creation our world really is! Impressed, astounded, stupefied, inspired, and humbled — these are words that only scratch the surface of describing how such a creature makes you feel. All this is to say: Yep it was a blessed week!
Of course, saying that it was a blessed week doesn't mean that it was perfect by any means. One of the things that got my attention was that, even at the age of eight or nine, girls travel to the washroom in packs. Herd instinct obviously begins at birth for the female of our species. It's just one of those differences between the genders that makes life an exciting mystery, I guess.
One of the small points of frustration, and please understand it was only a small frustration and one that should be expected at a camp of this age, was that we had three girls end up going home a few nights because they were homesick. One boy went home as well. In his case, it was for good. It was interesting to watch as these girls had wonderful times during the day, learning about God's Word, swimming in the ice cold Bay of Fundy, making crafts, going down water slides, and singing around the campfire and still they wanted to go home at the end of the day. Without exception, it was the children that lived nearby who were the ones that went home. It was as if it was just too easy for them to go back.
I wonder if we view our Christian lives in much the same way sometimes?
The story is told that when Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military campaign. Ordering his men to halt on the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the English channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat! The only choice left to his army was to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did.
Let me ask you a question. Does your Christian walk resemble more closely the attitude of the eight-year-old camper, or the Roman Soldier? Do you view your Christian walk as something to enjoy, but then retreat to the easy compromise of the old life when night falls around you? Or, is your attitude towards your Christian walk one of advance at all cost because there's no going back?
It's an important question to answer because the answer will tell you whether you are poised for growth, or stagnation. In Luke 9:57-62 we read:
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Difficult words, aren't they? Jesus almost seems a little cruel and uncaring doesn't He? After all, what's wrong with saying goodbye to family, or paying your last respects to your father? If someone in your church made the same demands upon you as Jesus did these men, what would you say and think? My bet is that you would want to do some serious attitude renovations! But all that Jesus was really trying to say was that the only way to follow Him successfully is to not even think of going back home. Why? Because if going home is an option, when the going gets tough, our focus will change from going forward to returning home and our lives will be miserable, unfruitful, and defeated. It takes an all or nothing, go forward at all cost kind of attitude to truly grow and prosper in the Lord.
We need to realized that Jesus is our brother, God our Father, and the church our new family, there's nothing really worth going back home for, when we have an infinitely better home in our future. Or, as Paul put it in Philippians 3:12-14,"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." How important is the prize to you? Is it important enough to keep you from looking back?
Prayer
Dear Lord, it's so easy to look back and return to our old life when we should be pressing on to take hold of what you have prepared for us. Forgive us for those times that we've longed to go home and left the camp instead of remaining in Your presence. Help us to burn our ships, and realize that there's no going back. Help us to press on at all cost because we know that when all is said and done, You are there to help us, and You will be there to greet us with the greatest prize of all, eternal life in Your presence! Amen!
