Following in Jesus' Footsteps

As I was sitting in church today, my mind started wandering. Not horribly out of topic, actually, which was pleasantly surprising as well, but full of wanderlust all the same.

The first thing that came to mind was how most people, myself included, might think that being an apostle (one who was physically with Jesus while serving Him) would have been way easier than being a regular disciple in today's world.

But I think now that it must be the other way around. Sure, being with Jesus for 3 years, every single day is a major plus to figuring out what to and not to do, but even so, I think the mere fact of fame/infamy involved would make things majorly difficult. Also, Jesus picked some real winners compared to us. An ex-zealot, a tax collector, some fishermen who were unsuccessful, a man who killed for a living, etc. Try switching from a life of epic worldliness to a life of Godliness by being with a man who's head was hunted for daily. Try being associated with someone who was uncouth and unpredictable; who enacted His own ideas rather than what was laid down in law; who was so very much unlike you, that at times it must have been really hard to understand. I dunno, I think being an apostle was an amazing responsibility. Plus, they got the verbal Great Commission, and were responsible for developing and growing not just any church but THE church, the FIRST church, EVER for Christ. That's an enormous task.
So yeah, I think we today should be thankful that, compared to the apostles, our job is much simpler.

My mind then wandered to the idea of love for some reason (probably this whole "Christ" thing we talked about in the sermon). Also, the pastor was talking about knowing a loved one, and then hearing something slanderous and false about them and how it'd make you feel - that was probably the turnkey. Anyways... specifically, my mind got lost in the dark alleyway that encompasses romance. And as you all (meaning people who actually read this stuff that I so aimlessly fire out of my brain) know, my romantic past is nothing to be proud of. My outlook, too, isn't looking good from my actions. Recently, I've rediscovered the concept of giving up to God, and taking His yoke upon myself. The major burden that I find I give up at least twice daily is my romantic endeavors, or lack thereof. But a somewhat profound idea struck me today, perhaps by providence, perhaps by fluke, but it struck a chord I hadn't quite heard clearly before. I wrote down the eloquence before it felt out of place in my decrepit mind and took off. Here's what I wrote:

"All I can do is love and serve the only way I know how and hope it's good enough for someone to want to reciprocate."


okay, so maybe it isn't as profound as I think it is, but it was still a stunning resolution. Then, I got to thinking of a better definition of 1 Corinthians 13:13's list.

1 Cor. 13:13, for those who don't know, says "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

so, I had to define faith, hope, and love. Well, I had two down in my head earlier, but I didn't write it because I was stupid, so I'm going to attempt to remember here - please cut me some slack, haha.

Okay, so to love is to make a conscious decision to care for and serve someone/thing unconditionally regardless of how you feel. Alright, a very simplistic rendition that I stole from a book, but it will work for the sake of my ideology.

Next we have faith. Well, faith is somewhat defined in my aforementioned, quoted material. Also, it's found in Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." That seems pretty solid as well. For funsies, here's a little example of what I consider faith: I am planning on going to Peru on March 7th. I owe about $1300 or so still (not approximate really), and have yet to even apply for my passport. The average time for expedited passport completion is "within 2 weeks". So, I have faith that God will provide the passport in time for me to go to Peru. If it doesn't happen, oh well; done deal, end of story.

Okay, so now we move onto hope, which is somewhat difficult for me to explain really. A big portion of my ideas of hope lie in a study I'm actually planning to lead on Romans 8:18-25. You can reference that whole section on your own. Anyway, the key verses in there are 24 and 25: "And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it."

Okay, so we've got some sort of aspiration for a future thing. I guess the major difference between faith and hope, since they seem so very similar, is that hope is not based on a promise generally. Faith should be; if it isn't, it probably is misplaced. Faith has an assurance to it ("sure", and "certain"); hope has just a wishful feeling to it.

I guess that would sum up what I know about the three, but I would love to hear what you think about it, if you want to chime in =)



The quoted material is a question I asked on myspace that got little response, and is here basically for funsies and enjoyable, laughable reading.

"Also, something that's been burning in my chest for awhile is this idea of being 'good enough', once again specifically in the realm of romance and dating. The only time I ever really had any sort of confirmation of being "good enough" was from my last fiasco, and to be honest (please don't hate me) I don't know if I can believe what was said to be truthful. It's something I've struggled with the most out of the whole thing.

I was going to do this on an individual basis, and spread it out over time, but I realized if I did so, I might give the wrong impression. But I'm going to ask you all (well, specifically the ladies) a very hard question, and I would very much like to hear an honest answer, either privately or publicly, your choice.

Again, I'm doing this rather publicly because I don't want you to feel singled out or anything, and I'm actually going to ask for people to read this one for once, so it's not confined to the (what, two?) people who regularly read these either.

Okay, enough pussyfooting. My question is this: am I dateable, according to your standards?"

Of course, the optional offshoot would be the why/why not's and such, but I won't ask that really, unless you'd like to elaborate.

I sincerely appreciate you all as friends, and even though it's inevitable, I would hate to lose any of you from my life, so if for some reason answering this question might affect that, then don't. I won't pressure anyone, I just want an opinion =)

Thanks for staying tuned so long, and I really hope God is blessing your life right now!


much love in Him,

~@