Blog Layout
Tougher Than You Think
Joe Killian • June 16, 2016
Living in Oakmont, the site of the 2016 US Open Golf Championship, has been interesting these past few months. Now that the tournament has actually arrived it is hard to not get caught up in all the excitement. I had the opportunity to get on the course and watch the practice rounds this week.
As a casual golfer I especially enjoy watching the pros navigate what is known as one of the most challenging golf courses in the world. They make it look so easy. I find myself thinking, what a way to make a living! At the same time I realize that a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice go into being a professional golfer. In this week's Gospel we see a parallel:
Once when Jesus was praying by himself, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He scolded them and directed them not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Luke 9:18-24
Jesus acknowledges the excitement surrounding His presence by questioning the disciples. Jesus has allowed them to become intimate with Him. He predicts His death and resurrection directly to the disciples as He continues to prepare them to truly follow Him. This Jesus does with the disciples prior to pronouncing to the crowd, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
I recently read a quote by Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest, that said "It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God." Chambers goes on to say that, "Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult." Being a follower of Jesus requires sacrifice and hard work, every day! Jesus has promised us that following Him is going to be hard. In fact, as Peter and the disciples learned, it will be much tougher than we think.
The beauty of being a "professional" follower of Jesus is that the "championship" we win in the end is far greater than any we might experience in this world, and it lasts forever!
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
