Annoying Christian Phrases

There's some phrases making the rounds these days that I wish would just go away. In no particular order, my top five include:

"Don't go there" - What does this really mean anyway? I guess I know what the intent is but if I've already gone there how can I not go there? Shouldn't it be "stop going there" or "turn around and come back from there?"  I'd just like to tell people where they can go when I hear them say "don't go there." (Oops...not very Christian of me, sorry!)

"Just so you know" - Is that just so I know as opposed to anyone else knowing or do you want me to know because everyone else already knows or are you worried that if you tell me I won't really know what you told me unless you tell me you just told me? I don't know.

"Just saying" - If you just said it why do you have to tell us you just said it, unless what you said was so trivial that you have to remind us you just said it... but, if what you just said is so trivial, why did you have to say it in the first place? 

"I got nothin" - Usually an expression signifying they don't know what to say, they've drawn a blank. I actually have been guilty of using this one, because it happens to me quite a bit, but it still drives me crazy even to hear myself say it.  Why state the obvious? A wise old saying goes "it's better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt."  "I got nothin" pretty conclusively removes all doubt. 

"I know! Right?" - This has got to be the one that drives me the craziest. It's usually used at the end of a statement, not a question. It's almost like the person wants to agree with you but is not confident enough to do it themselves so they have to ask you for permission.

Friend one: "Wearing black is so-o-o yesterday."
Friend two: "I know! Right!?"

Open mouth, insert finger.

People in our secular culture aren't the only ones guilty of soiling the language with annoying phrases. We Christians hold our own just fine thank you. In fact, I'm guessing there a quite a few catch phrases we Christians use that drive our God crazy.

I can think of a number of top candidates:

Annoying Christian Phrase # 1: "Bless her heart"  

An ingenious way to disguise a back door insult as a spiritual sounding compliment. It's a way to make subtly make fun of a person while sounding really Godly in the process.

"Did you see what so and so did at church last week! Bless her heart?"

"She's really is naive isn't she, bless her heart."

"He's as homely as an ox, bless his heart."

Somehow I don't think this is what God had in mind when He told us to "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." (Eph. 4:29)

Annoying Christian Phrases # 2:  "It must be a sign."

Okay, try to follow the logic here:

Friend 1: "My wife made waffle fries for dinner on Monday. Then Tuesday she put potato chips in my lunch sack for work. Tonight she made mash potatoes. It must be a sign. She's telling me I need to iron my shirts better for work.

Friend 2: "Huh??  I Don't get it."  

Friend 1: "You know...potatoes...more starch in the diet...get it?"  

Friend 2:  "Sorry...still don't get it."  

Friend 1: "(Sigh) More starch in diet...more starch in on my shirt when I iron.  It's a pretty obvious sign...don't you think?"

Friend 2: "Errr...sure..."

Ludicrous right? 

We would never expect to have any meaningful communication with our spouse this way so why do some think that this is how our loving God would choose to communicate with His people?"

Yet how many well meaning Christians steer themselves through their Christian walk taking cues from obscure coincidences, making life decisions based on information about as reliable as reading tea leaves.

In Luke 11 tells us "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened...:

Who needs to waste time looking for obscure signs when God says the answer is there for the asking? Beats reading tea leaves in my book.

Annoying Christian Phrase # 3: "The Lord put it on my heart"

This phrase is awesome! You can use it to justify just about anything. Your friends can tell you it's a bad decision. Your parents might recommend against it. Your Pastor might question your judgment. God's Word could even condemn it. But utter the magic phrase, "The Lord put it on my heart" and suddenly whatever decision you've made takes on the air of the sacred, as if God Himself reached down and tugged on your heart strings. 

You: "I'm leaving my spouse and children to do missionary work in India." 

Concerned other: "Huh? Have you been drinking?"

You: "No, you have to understand that the Lord has put it on my heart."

Concerned other: "Well, then. That's of course what you need to do. Sorry I questioned you."

Hebrews 1 tells us that "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son..."

Note the words "has spoken." Not, "is speaking." Not "whispers quietly in your ear while you're sleeping." "Has spoken" in the pages of your Bible.

Hebrews 4 tells us "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 

If some Christians spent half as much time seeking answers in the Word of God as they do trying to divine His will from their emotions, the vague voices inside their head or whatever it is tugging at their heart strings, there decision making ability would be on much firmer ground. 

Annoying Christian Phrase # 4: "It's a God job."

The intended translation of this phrase is one of two things: 

1) There is nothing anyone humanly can do to help so God's going to have to take care of it, or... 

2) I don't have the time, resources, or inclination to help my brother or sister in this situation, so it's all Yours God. 

The first meaning states what is annoyingly obvious. After all, when it comes down to it, isn't everything pretty much a God job? When God hears this He must think to Himself..."Really?? You're just now getting the fact that I'm in charge?!  Hello..."

The second meaning is a bit more presumptuous. Who are we to think we can just willy-nilly pass the baton to Him when and if we decide we're done with it? Who are we to think we have the baton in the first place? 

Galatians 6:2 instructs Christians to "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." 

God doesn't give us Christians the luxury of determining when we're done showing love to our brother. After all, aren't we the vehicle through which He expresses His love? Last I checked I Corinthians 13, it still reads "His love never fails." If it truly is a God job, then you and I have to be willing to be the tools He works through to get it done, whatever it takes, as long as it takes.

Whew! It felt good to get that off my chest.

Just so you know... I suspect that right up till the time Jesus returns, His people, bless their hearts, will continue to come up with trite, meaningless and wholly un-biblical phrases that will drive us, and probably God as well, just a bit crazy. We're pretty helpless to stop it so I guess, in the end, that too is a God job.... Just saying...

Are there any Christian phrases that drive you crazy?

Unleavened Bread: Christ is Us, Our Hope of Glory

Okay, more than halfway through the Days of Unleavened Bread and so far so good. I've yet to a plow down a donut in the office cafeteria without thinking or munch down a handful of croutons with my dinner salad. The symbol of sin has not, knowingly anyway, crossed my lips.

Although I've done well with the command not to eat, I wish I could say as much about the command we are given to eat. After all, we are commanded to take the leaven out of our dwellings on the first day. The commandment to take in of unleavened bread covers all seven (Ex. 12:15)

In some ways remembering to eat unleavened bread every day is more challenging than avoiding the leavened stuff. If I'm not careful an entire day can get by me before I realize, "Hey, I haven't eaten any unleavened bread today."

This tendency to forget such a simple command got me thinking. What if unleavened bread were all I had to eat? What if my physical life depended on it for sustenance? How much more focused would I be on getting my three square servings of unleavened bread each day?

In Galatians 2:20 Paul writes, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Paul is basically saying that His spiritual life is dependent on Jesus Christ living in Him. Everything he does, all that he is, is made possible by the life of Jesus living in him by faith. Paul knew that taking in of the Unleavened Bread every day of his life was critical to his spiritual survival, his spiritual salvation.

Taking in of unleavened bread each day of this Feast is a fairly basic exercise. It's pretty much just a matter of remembering to pick it up and put it in my mouth. But what does it mean to have Christ living in me? How do I, in a real sense, take Him in spiritually, every day of my life?

Just a cursory search through scripture gives some insight.

Ephesians 3:14 tells us that Christ dwells in the heart of the believer through faith; faith in His sacrifice and the promise of salvation, made possible by His resurrection. It's a promise which He has given to all who are His. So taking in of Jesus Christ means continually being reminded of and renewing our trust in His sacrifice and the work that He is doing in our lives.

I Corinthians 1 tells us that God has chosen the weak of the world that no one should give glory to themselves for what He has done. By virtue of being in Him and His life dwelling in us, He has become our righteousness, our sanctification and our redemption. So if any man glories, he should glory in the Lord. So taking in of His life each day means to daily give glory to the One who gives us life, to the One who redeems us.

Romans 8:9 - 11 tells us that Christ dwells in us through His Spirit. Our bodies are dead because of sin, but His Spirit that dwells in us gives us life. Paul goes onto say that as Christians, we are to put to death the old man and submit to power of His Spirit working in us, changing us. Taking in of Him means to not resist, but submit daily to the leading of His Spirit within us.

Philippians 2:5 - 13 tells us to let Jesus Christ's mind be in us. A mindset of humility, a mindset of a servant, willingly sacrificing for the needs of others. Taking in of Him daily means to daily put on humility, daily present ourselves as living sacrifices in service to others and to Him.

Paul goes on to say in Philippians 2: 12 - 13 "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Taking in of the Unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth means to submit ourselves daily to let Him work in us both to do and to will of His good pleasure." It's recognizing that any good that is in us comes from His work in us. We submit in fear and trembling daily to let Him do that work.

Colossians 1:24 tells us that to us, His saints, has "been made known the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Taking in of Him each day of my life is about humbly dying to myself, my desires, my attitudes, and submitting to let Him do His work in me. It's trusting in Him by faith, understanding that it's His work in me that has made me righteous, not anything I have done. My righteousness is as filthy rags. As far as the heavens are above the earth, so far are His thoughts above my thoughts, and His ways above my ways. It is He who has made me unleavened through His awesome sacrifice, so that when the Father looks at me, He doesn't see me, He sees His Son. It's His righteousness imputed to me, His life in me, that allows me to live. And the life I now live I live through faith in the Son of God who died for me and lives in me. As long as I remain in Him and He in me, I live a life free of fear and full of hope. His life in me is my hope of glory.

In a nutshell, it's about Him, it's not about me. He gets the glory.

My response to that awesome gift is to desire to be like Him, to strive to become, in reality, what I already am in Him, each and every day of my life.

So much meaning in such a small piece of unleavened bread. Maybe it's so easy to forget to eat it during these days because there are so many other culinary delights to be had. Come to think of it, maybe that's part of the lesson. Our lives become so readily immersed in all this world has to offer that we often forget the one thing that truly gives us life. His life, living in us.

What a blessing it is our God gave us these days of Unleavened Bread to refocus our attention on Him.

Anyone for a cracker?

Does He Know Me?

The setting: A time yet future. 

The King has descended and having subdued the kingdoms of this world, now sits on His throne in the Holy City, peoples from every nation and tongue making their way to appear before Him.

A middle aged man, dressed in His best pinstripe, confidently enters through the throne room doors, approaches and kneels before the King. 

The conversation begins thus:

The King: Do I know you?

Man: "Well yes, of course you know me Lord. I've been an active member of the Church You built since my youth."

The King: "I have no reason to doubt you. But I just don't recognize you. You must understand that merely sitting among my people does not make you one of them. Tell me a little more about how I might know you."

Man: "Well, maybe you recall me from my efforts to share the gospel.  For years I have placed church literature in waiting rooms, answered phone calls for booklets and worked to get our churches telecast on our local television station. Not to mention the two times that I witnessed to some co-workers in my office."

The King: "Well, those are admirable. It certainly seems like I should know who you are. But there are many who have preached My name for their own reasons; some with motives which were noble and others selfish. Tell Me more. How else might I know you?"

Man: "Well, let's see. Certainly you must know of the many financial sacrifices I have made to further Your work   I've faithfully tithed of all I possess so that your Gospel might be preached to this world prior to your coming. I gave a great deal toward that effort."

The King: "Well, certainly My work must have been furthered because of it. Thank you. But there are weightier matters than these that would have made you known to Me. Simply sacrificing through the giving of money, for some, can be a convenient excuse for not to sacrificing of themselves. I'm still not clear how I know you."

Man, exasperated: "But Lord, I spent hours on my knees in prayer before Your throne. Do you not remember them?" 

The King: "The prayers of many have ascended to my throne throughout time. Some motivated by fear. Some motivated by desire for gain. Some uttered in grief or desperation. Although I hear them all, I listen to the prayers of the ones I know, who beseech Me with a pure heart." 

Man, pointing to the Book that lay open before the throne: "This Book Lord; I've studied to understand all of Your Words. The pages of my own Bible are worn, tattered, with margins overflowing with countless insights learned from Your teachers and my own studies."

The King: "In this you have done well. My Word is truth and it is right that you should seek so diligently to rightly divide it. But knowing and comprehending all that I've said through My servants isn't the same as knowing Me. Understanding words does not build a relationship or change a heart. The demons know the same things of Me but they are far from really knowing Me".

Man, voice now growing strident: "But I spent endless hours in the study of prophecies foretelling your coming and the events at the end of the age! I felt I had been given a special understanding that only Your people had been given!"

The King: "It's true much of My Word is filled with revelations of the future. And in deed I commanded My people that they should watch. Unfortunately some gave so much of their energy to understanding what lay ahead that little was left to focus on the work I had for them now. My Kingdom is now here and all the mysteries they had pondered have been fulfilled. If that was the primary focus of their effort, what now have they left to show for their work?  Though you might very well understand all mysteries and all knowledge contained in My Word, it profits you nothing if you don't have love. I am love and most certainly I would be more likely to know you by the love in your heart than by your understanding of the writings of my prophet Isaiah." 

Man: "I observed Your Sabbaths which reveal Your plan for mankind and the hope of this Kingdom which you have now established. I came out of this world's pagan practices and religious idolatry."

The King: "My people Israel observed My Sabbaths as well but I despised their acts of worship because their heart was far from Me. Sadly, it's all too easy for man to go through the motions of worship without truly knowing the One they worship. I'm beginning to sense that may be true of you."

The man, feeling frustrated and defiant: "Lord, Lord...how can you not know me!? If these things I've mentioned so far have not jogged your memory of me, I don't see what else there is that could!"

The King: "Well, let's see. From where have you journeyed to my Holy City?"

The man, confused with why this was relevant: "From the North American state of Minnesota, in a small community in the northern Minneapolis suburbs, 342 Wooddale Drive. What significance does that have Lord?" 

The King: "I know there to be a homeless shelter not more than five miles from your house. Maybe I met you there at some point? Did you ever volunteer to serve meals in the kitchen?"

Man: Well, no. You see I commuted a long way each day to work and didn't have much time to spend in my community. I thought about it more than once but just never found a way to make it happen." 

The King: "Hmm, there was an elderly woman who lived a few doors down from you. She lost her husband six years ago and has never recovered from her grief.  She suffers from loneliness and depression and sometimes skips meals in order to use the money to pay her other bills. But of course you must know her situation well since you live so close to her. Perhaps we met during one of your visits?"

Man: "Well, I know I often saw her from a distance, usually Sabbath morning, sitting on her porch, while heading out the door with my family to go to church. I always made a point to wave but we were usually running late. Most of our weekends were so full of fellowship and participating in various church activities with the other brethren that I just didn't have much time to get to know my neighbors. I figured most of them thought we were some kind of religious nuts anyway, you know, because of our keeping the Sabbath and all, so our family preferred to keep most of our friendships in the church. It was just less complicated that way."

The King: If you desired so much to know Me why did you not spend any time looking for Me in the places I could be found; serving in your community, ministering to the poor, visiting the widows or fatherless? 

Man, becoming defensive: "Well, Lord. I guess I thought that, because this is Satan's world, the poor would always be with us. Anyway, a portion of my taxes went toward programs to serve the poor and needy so I knew they were being cared for. I put my effort into studying to learn about You and Your Kingdom, helping spread the message of Your coming and striving to overcome my sin so that I could be worthy to rule with You at Your return. I figured that once Your Kingdom was set up You would take care of all the suffering that was in the world, which you have.  So I guess I didn't put much thought into doing anything back then."

The King: "O foolish, man Do you not see the vacancy that is in your heart? Did you not know that all of these things you've done you've done for your own reward? Even your attempts to obey me, as determined as you were in them, have been motivated by self-benefit. Your acts of obedience were rightly done, but you left so much that is of greater importance undone."

"The places I would have met you would have been places where you sacrificed yourself for others. I was in these places but you never were."

"If you knew me you would have known that My heart is set to provide food to the hungry, to give freedom to the prisoner, to open the eyes of the blind, to raise up those who are bowed down, to watch over the strangers and to relieve the fatherless and widow." (Psalm 146:7-9)

"If you had known Me you would know that I am a refuge to the oppressed." (Psalm 9:9)

"If you would have known Me you would know that My ears continually hear the cry of the poor and needy and he that has no helper." (Psalm 72:13)

"If you had a heart that truly knows Me, you know that I have compassion on those who are weary and scattered, having no Shepherd." (Matt. 9:36)

"If you truly knew Me You would have set your heart of these things also. You would have loved as I loved. You would have given even an ounce more of your time to minister to and serve the least of these My brethren....whether they were those I had already called to dwell safely within the body of My Church, or those still in bondage, yet to be called at a time appointed for them."

"Wicked man. Would that you truly knew Me and your only error simply one of understanding...a misapplication of My Law, a misguided conviction concerning how or when to worship Me or a weakness to which you were blinded. These I would graciously forgive, knowing that once you understood your error, your heart would convict you to fall to your knees, saying 'Yes, Lord'."

"But you have come to me having spent your life mastering the form of worship and every minutia of religious obedience, yet possessing a heart that cannot see beyond its own desire for self-preservation. Therefore, all of these works you have done in My Name are as lawlessness before Me."

The King, saddened by the lack of repentance He sensed in the man's heart: "Though it pains Me deeply to confirm it, it cannot be denied. I simply do not know you. Depart from Me."

The man, teeth now clenched in anger and bitterness swelling in his heart, turned and made his way across the throne room, back to where he had entered so confidently just a few moments before. As he walked, another man, plainly dressed, head down and trembling noticeably, made his way past Him for his turn to appear before the throne.  He seemed vaguely familiar.  He thought he had seen this man once or twice before, sitting on the porch next to the widowed neighbor lady that the Lord had asked him about. Or, no, maybe he was one of the people who, each fall, he'd seen raking leaves and painting the weathered houses of other elderly people on His block. He thought he recognized him but he couldn't be sure.

As the doors closed behind the man, He heard the now distant sound of the Kings voice as He warmly reached out to embrace his new visitor: "My dear Jonathan! How good to finally meet you face to face..."  That was the last the man heard, as the door had completely closed shut behind him. 

Matthew 25:31 - 46 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 

Matthew 7:21 - 23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’"

Forgetting to Remember

"Ughh...ten more miles to go... C'mon Tony! Ignore the biting winter wind. Ignore the aching legs. Push through the burning in your lungs. Keep pedaling...just keep pedaling." 

I was pedaling my Surly Crosscheck along the snow and ice flanked country roads near my house earlier this week when these thoughts began running, or more accurately, throbbing, through my mind. This day the winter wind was especially brutal, making my normal twenty-four mile training route feel more like fifty. If the physical discomfort weren't enough to make me question my sanity, the looks of passers-by gawking at me from the comfort of their heated car seats certainly did. "Why, exactly, am I putting myself through this torture again?!"

But as fast as that thought flooded my mind another thought, or rather an image, pushed it aside, strengthening my resolve to pedal harder. The image of a guy, three-hundred pounds and counting, sitting on the edge of a kayak on the muddy bank of a winding, secluded river, certain he was about to meet his Maker. 

The source of that image? I took my kayak out alone (my first mistake) on what was supposed to be a leisurely two hour scouting trip to check out a route for an upcoming men's group outing. Somewhere around two and a half hours into what turned out to be a four hour ordeal, just having pulled my kayak out of the river for the fifth or sixth time, up a muddy slope, through tangled brush and weeds around yet another of the many snags that had blocked my progress, I began to experience symptoms of what I feared was a heart attack. They were all there: shortness of breath, tingling in the arms and legs, a tight feeling behind my breastbone, cotton dry mouth...and fear, lots of fear...fear of dying...fear of my kids growing up, getting married, having their own kids, my grand children, without me. Fear of not seeing my wife again. Fear of dying...alone...here in this place. 

It's amazing how believing you are about to keel over can bring clarity to your thinking and sharpen your resolve. Sitting on the edge of that kayak, I determined that if I got out of there alive I'd do whatever was within my power to never feel that physically helpless again. 

Needless to say, I lived to tell the tale. After a half an hour of resting and fervent prayer, I summoned the strength to climb back in my kayak and paddle the mile or so, thankfully snag free, to the pickup point and call my by now very worried, and very relieved, wife. 

The next week, after having been reassured by the guy with the stethoscope that what I had experienced was  not a heart attack, but more probably physical exhaustion compounded by dehydration, I pulled my old mountain bike out of the rafters of our garage and began pedaling like there was no tomorrow. 

That was three years ago. Today, seventy pounds lighter, feeling healthier than I have since my college days, I'm still pedaling. What started out as a herculean sweat fest just to churn out a couple of miles around the neighborhood has turned into an average of sixty miles per week all over the county...wind, rain, snow or shine. When weather or darkness makes it impossible to ride outdoors I ride indoors. I'm preparing to ride my third Ironman bike ride on May 1st, this time tackling the hundred mile route. 

I'm not trying to toot my own horn, though....okay, maybe a little toot...After all, it was a lot of work! The reality, though, is that my climb back from the brink of a health disaster had a lot more to do with the love, support and encouragement of others than it did with me. I have a lot of people to thank. My wife, who, though worrying every time I leave the house that I'll end up as road kill somewhere, says a prayer and lets me go anyway. My kids, who support and encourage me while suppressing their horror at the spectacle of dad in Lycra. And my good friends, Pat, Jeremy and Doug, who, rather than roll their eyes at a Lance Armstrong wanna be...have pulled their own bikes out of the garage and pedaled along side.

It's not only the image of the guy I was three years ago that inspires me to keep pedaling another mile, and another, but also the memory of all those who've shared, in one way or another, those miles with me. 

It strikes me while thinking about the last three years how this physical journey I've had mirrors the spiritual journey we all walk. I've tested my limits, struggled to be disciplined and committed and resisted temptation to go back to my old ways. 

In Philippians 3 Paul tells us "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

As a rule, Paul tells Christians that they should focus their attention forward. Forward to God's Kingdom. Forward to the return of our Lord. Forward to the joy that is set before us. Spending time looking back, re-living past failures, past defeats can keep us immobilized, unable to see, much less experience, the good things God has in store for those who love Him. 

But there are times when looking back, remembering, can actually give us the resolve to keep going forward. Times when we get discouraged. Times when we get weary. Times when we question whether it's all worth it. These are times that we can draw tremendous strength from remembering.

In fact, God, knowing the power of memory to re-energize and re-focus our commitment, gave us an entire season to do just that.  The Spring Holy Day season is all about remembering.

Jesus, in Luke 22:19, after taking the bread, symbolic of His body which would soon be broken gave thanks and said to His disciples, and us by extension, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 

In the symbols of the Passover we bring to remembrance what Jesus did for us. We remember His body that was broken and His blood that was spilled that we might be saved from our wretched state apart from Him. We're reminded of where we began. 

Ephesians 2 paints an even clearer image of where we once were without Jesus.

Ephesians 2:11 - 13 - "Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

We were, all of us, afar off, without hope, figuratively sitting in our kayaks in the middle of a wilderness, facing the prospect of eternal death. 

Yes, Passover is a season to soberly take stock of the road ahead and how far we have yet to go, but it's also a season to be encouraged in remembering. The strength to continue the journey sometimes comes from looking back at how far we've come down the road but also reflecting on those who have traveled it with us. People the Lord has put in our lives so that we might grow to become more like Him. Those who have comforted us and encouraged us to persevere through hard times. Those who have modeled Godly marriages, Godly parenting, Godly responses to suffering. Those who have remained faithful when it's hard to be faithful, and whose examples have strengthened and grounded our faith. 

I'm thankful that these last three years have been free of anything like the fear I felt sitting on my kayak on the edge of that river. Worries about heart attack, diabetes, stroke, though never certain, for the most part I left somewhere many miles in the wake of my Surly's rear tire. My health still isn't quite where I want it to be. I'm still looking ahead, focused on conquering the next hill, seeing what lay around the next corner, and testing what this forty-five year old body can do. But I know there are always going to be times, whether on my bike or along this Christian walk, when the long road ahead, the biting wind in my face, the weariness of mind and body may prompt me to question if it's really all worth it. Those are times that I never want to forget to remember.

This Passover season, my prayer for all of God's people is that none of us will forget to remember...and that in doing so we'll each find the strength and encouragement to keep on pedaling.






What memories inspire you to "keep on pedaling?"