This week we heard the word from
two different speakers; Kyle Unruh, and Antoine Mack. These men shared with us on two different
topics, which happened to coincide perfectly.
Tuesday, Kyle Unruh talked with us
about the Plan for Greatness. He started
out by telling us that in deciding to come to Link year, we have made a
decision of Greatness. Because it is so
out of the cultural norm, we have taken a risk; and where there is great risk,
there is great reward. If we choose to
accept all that this program has to offer, we will be on a path to
greatness.
According to Kyle, there are four
steps on the path to greatness. It
begins with a calling. We looked at Mark
1:16-17, the passage in which Jesus goes to Simon and Andrew and calls them to
follow him. Now in Jewish culture, every
boy goes to school at age 5 with the hope of being asked to follow a
rabbi. As they grow older, the rabbi
picks out the cream of the crop, and sends the others back home to work. The fact that these two brothers are
fishermen shows that they had not made the cut.
So now, they take the opportunity that they had been denied earlier in
life, and follow Jesus. When God calls
us out of our box to do something for him, why would we deny him? With God on our side, who can take us down?
Next, we need to develop a clear
understanding of Sacrifice. Looking back
at this passage in Mark, these two fishermen dropped all that they had to
follow Jesus, a rabbi. He asked them to
drop all that they know; their income, their business, their comfort, their
livelihood… all that they have, and follow him.
And they did it. Think about it,
Christ came to be a sacrifice for all of us.
We are called to be like Christ.
We are most like him when we can make sacrifices for him.
Thirdly, we must be steadfast. Jesus tells Peter in John chapter 21, just
before he leaves the earth, to follow him.
This goes to show that just because of God’s lack of physical presence,
we are still called to follow him in everything that we do. Not only that, but if we look back at the
life of Peter, we see that he denied Jesus three times before He was
crucified. In asking Peter to follow
Him, what Jesus was really saying was, “Peter, don’t screw up again… Turn and
RUN from your sin!” Likewise, we are
called to turn from our sin, and seek God’s will in our lives.
Last, but not least, we are called
to allow our weakness to be manifested.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we see Paul pleading with God to remove a
‘thorn’ from his side. (This is more
than likely some sort of physical or emotional struggle that could have kept
him from working to his full potential.)
Instead of removing it from his life, God said to him “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (v. 9) Kyle shared with us an old fable…
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A young boy had
two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole that he carried across his
neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and
always delivered a full
portion of water.
At the end of the long walk from
the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For two
years this went on daily, with the boy bringing home only one and a half pots
of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of this accomplishment. But
the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that
it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be
bitter failure, it spoke to the boy one day by the stream. "I am ashamed
of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way
back to your house." The old boy smiled, "Watch your side of the
path as we walk home.” As they walked
home, the cracked pot notice that on his side there were many flowers
growing. The Boy told him, “That's
because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on
your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water
them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful
flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there
would not be this beauty to grace the house."
Sometimes God uses our weakness in ways we don’t see for good. The potential for greatness is here; we
just have to accept it.
Wednesday, Antoine Mack talked with us about time perspective. Temptation is a matter of time. It’s completely psychological; it is a
matter of internal conflict and dialogue.
We know what we want now,
but we never stop to think how it will affect our future. Temptation is the persuasion of now. Time will end, but truth will remain. Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that he is the
way the TRUTH and the life. Jesus is
truth. If we anchor ourselves to
truth, we can see past now. With our
eyes focused on the truth that is the Word of God, we can develop an eternal
mindset, and learn to resist temptation by seeing how it will affect us in
the long run.
Without even planning it, these speakers really fit together well. When we are seeking greatness, we are
seeking God. And with God on our side,
who can stand against us? We will be
able to fight the temptation of Satan, and stay on the straight and narrow
path. The key to this is seeking
God. Following his call… Understanding
his Sacrifice… Being steadfast to his word… And allowing our weakness to be
manifested in his power. With this in
mind, we will be great, and we will learn to resist the temptations of the
evil one.
“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” – Ephesians 6:19-20 |
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