[if you're reading this and you have no idea what i'm talking about, the gist is that if you accept Christ, it is like stepping into a sailboat, in which you will only be tossed randomly by the tides (the world) unless you open your sails (willingness) and let the wind (the Holy Spirit) constantly fill them and move you with it (Him). it's actually a pretty decent analogy.]
at first i was wondering if maybe my "sail" was broken. or if it had a hole in it or something. but i think maybe i just had [have?] it tangled, or not quite tied down correctly. this is getting confusing, so i'll stop there.
but the sermon this morning was not just saying "let the Holy Spirit fill your life," but it actually went into how you let that happen, and even making sure you want to (being willing to let go of your own will and ideas and stuff...). after all, people aren't born sailors! they must be trained.
thank you to all who stop your sailboats and teach me, an unseasoned amateur, how to work my sails.
~ ~ ~
random thought: i wonder if you could think of the Christian life as a class, where you ideally study daily, meet with your teacher[s] once or twice (or more) a week, and take multiple pop quizzes every day. ????? maybe? maybe not? lol. imagine this scenario:
"hey, how many AP classes are you taking next year? i'm doing five."
"oooh, i'm only taking one."
"oh, really? [disappointed] which one?"
"AP Christian Life."
"wow. [changed expression-- :/ ] that's pretty ambitious--i heard it's really tough. are you sure that one will be worth giving up and figuring out all that?"
"oh yeah. [ :) ]"
I like the analogy too. It's an excellent visual way to explain how we can be unconditionally saved (eternally) by faith through grace, yet we also have to surrender our lives to experience oneness with God now.
ReplyDeleteThe shortcoming of a class analogy is that it suggests something you only have for certain times of the day and certain days of the week. Granted, I've never seen a "perfect" analogy, and you did say otherwise when you detailed your example (pop quizzes each day). That's probably just me thinking of this in my own context, where I'd want to remind any audience I get to teach to that following Christ involves every moment and aspect of your life, but if I'm thinking of this just in what I know of your own experience with school, time, and sacrifice, it does make a lot of sense! :)
And that dialogue did make me laugh, hehe!