A SMIDGEN OF RELIGION
How do you waste time throughout the day?
With Comparison? Envy? Worry? Fear?
These things can be good to an extent, but they won’t lead to eternal life by themselves.
“Put on blinders. Like a racehorse in the Kentucky Derby or a dog with a funnel around its neck after going to the vet. We need to block our view of the things that hardly matter at all, stop returning to the patterns that do not serve our larger objectives, start recognizing what is temporary and transitory, and instead focus intensely on the things that will last forever: our faith, our families, our purposes. When you direct your attention to these things, you will find your joy” (6-7).
“Don’t get tricked into being a puddle when your life was meant to be lived as deep as the ocean” (170).
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Realize that the human mortality rate is 100% and thus time is limited.
“I’ve spent some time exploring the branches on my family tree, and it turns out that most Goff men come from a factory like a windup toy with only a certain number of turns. We’re Energizer bunnies who just stop pounding our drums and tip over at about the same age. Because we all seem to keel over at about the same time, I’ve bracketed those dates for myself and have a clock that counts down from then to remind me how many days I have left. Does this sound crazy or morbid? I don’t think it’s either; I think it’s brilliant. Try it. Figure out how much longer you think you’ll live, set a timer to countdown from there, and see how it changes your days. I bet you’ll have fewer arguments and scroll social media less. You will look for more rainbows, find more waterfalls, and watch more sunsets. You’ll surf the waves instead of surfing the web, and you’ll trade reality shows for… actual reality. Simply put, your real life will be so good that none of the artificial stuff will distract you anymore” (39).
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We have an all-access pass to serve wherever/ however we want in the world (as long as we don’t try to push Jesus off center stage).
“Getting me a ticket was so kind of everyone in the band. Not only did they get me in the building; they also made it possible for me to go anywhere I wanted while I was there. The thing is, I didn’t realize I had that kind of permission in my hands. It took three burly security guards to convince me I had far more access than I really believed, imagined, or understood. My gracious hosts wanted me to have whatever vantage point I chose. I could certainly have looked on from afar if I wanted to, but I was also invited right into the mix. The only place I couldn’t go that night was to the center of the stage. // Perhaps this is what God wants you to know as well. He’s given you access to go anywhere with your life and the whole world to do it in. The only spot that’s already taken is center stage, where Jesus already has it covered” (60).
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God always has a hold on us, even if we lose our grip on Him.
“I took up a new sport a few years ago. It is overly generous to call what I was doing wakeboarding. I was mostly falling or dragging with a wakeboard attached to my feet. From the shore it probably looked more like trolling for big fish with me as the large piece of old, freckled bait. As I neared the boat after another failed attempt at getting up, I held out my hand to a friend who’d walked to the back of the boat to help pull me up and out of the water. I reached up intending to grab his hand like a handshake. Instead, my friend grabbed me wrist-to-wrist and reminded me this is how God holds us. ‘Bob, even if you let go, I won’t. I’ve got you’ were his reassuring words” (92-93).