If you have met my wife, you probably know that she is not into luxurious lifestyle. Nevertheless, I like to surprise her every once in a while. I recently planned a get-away vacation for her to the Islands. This vacation was a total surprise and I managed to keep it to myself as long as I could. Living with the secret without divulging it was not easy. Each day that went by made me a little too excited to just keep my mouth shut.
As the dates of the trip approached, I started learning everything about this adventurous resort we were visiting. I could not believe how “obsessed” I became about it. I learned about the history, every landmark, trails, you name it! In other words, I had visual map of this place, which I had surprisingly not visited before. It’s amazing how much our mind can conceive and visualize when we put it on the task!
My “to-do-list” included things that I was absolutely sure that my wife would have loved and few things I wanted her to try/see for the first time like snorkeling, skydiving etc. Months leading to our vacation, I had prepared myself to be a good tour guide! Long story short, we had to cancel our vacation and I had to virtually share this place and my excitement about it with my wife. Surprisingly, she enjoyed my narrative and stories probably more than she could have enjoyed it by being there physically. Yes, I was that good in recounting my emotional trip. And No, I did not lie to her or exaggerate.
You see, I was not too crazy about this place just because it was beautiful (and yes it is a beautiful place) but because I was going there with my wife. This sounds a little cheesy but seeing her, as someone I love, enjoying this place was what I was mostly looking forward to. To me, the presence/happiness of my wife in this place had so much to add to the beauty of this place (as beautiful as it already is).
Because of my excitement, I was able to learn so much about this place that I feel like I have been there before. I literary have a tourist’s map drilled into my head. If I ever had to convince a friend to go with us, it would not have been hard at all. It amazed me how much I learned about this place in a little time simply because I was motivated enough to become passionate about it. In fact, I feel more confortable taking a friend to this place (where I have never been) than many other places that I have physically been to (by accident or coincidence).
This experience made me think a lot about my Christian life. As a Christian, I know that my eternal home is in heaven. Most importantly, I will spend this eternity with the one who loved and died for me, Jesus. Despite of this wonderful news that I actually believe in, I often wonder if I am excited enough about Heaven and who I will see there. I think this is a sad truth I share with many fellow Christians. We are just not that excited!
Don’t get me wrong. I am not here to judge but I think that we, Christian need to be more excited about heaven and the Christ that we serve. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands us to “go and make disciples”. I doubt we will deliver if we keep showing little or no excitement about him. Not that we should act as salespersons but I can hardly think of any salesperson (at least a successful one) who fails to impart his excitement about his merchandise into his “potential” customers. My point is that, God has given us supernatural power to do great things but history shows that we can only achieve things we pursue with passion and excitement.
We live in times when we can no longer afford to live like “undercover” Christians. You may say that things have been this way for a long time but Satan has become more aggressive in his tactics more than he has ever done before. Sorry to jump into various issues but I read many posts about Christians who are very concerned about the decision of the Supreme Court and how it is going to affect or influence their children. For Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, the government will NOT protect our children from Satan. It’s our responsibilities to make disciples starting with our own children. But what should we expect if the world seems way more passionate about taking our children to hell than we are about taking them to heaven? Who will they follow?
This is high time that we, Christians need to rekindle the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns from within. Through our passion and works, let us make it clear to our friends and neighbors that we are HOT Christians heading to heaven and we are not leaving them behind. Let’s distance ourselves from the world that keeps falling victims of today’s fashion while losing their passion for Christ. It’s ok to look pathetic to this world as long as we maintain the prophetic word that is desperately needed!
May God bless and empower you to share his good news!