Train of Thought

contributor:  Sarah


The following is purely a line of thinking that I was encouraged by today.  Sometimes, I am so thankful for the ways that the Lord shows himself to me and encourages me through everyday situations.  For the believer, or maybe just for me, life can be one great big allegory for God's love for us and the Christian "walk".  Here it goes.

1. Sometimes while I am on my break at work I will read status updates on Facebook while I drink a cup of coffee and rest my weary bones.
2. I have noticed lately that our dear friend, Shelley, uses a lot of quotes as her facebook statuses.  Who doesn't love a good reminder of the ways that people can say simple things so profoundly?
3. This morning I was surfing Facebook and read the following quote on her facebook from a man named William Shedd (whom I am unfamiliar with):  A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
4. I got to thinking about how this adage might be helpful in daily living, and was reminded of something Zach was talking about during sunday school yesterday morning.  I can't remember exactly the context, but he said that it can be easy for Christians to get so caught up in studying the scriptures that they become almost "monk-like" and are not functioning in the real world.  And the Christian life takes place in a real fallen world.
5. So I began to think of myself as a ship.  i.e. it would be easy for me to lock myself in a room and study all of the time, but the scriptures are applicable to our lives.  The scriptures place a certain calling on our lives.  And it is difficult to implement the Lord's calling on our lives if we don't live them.
6. Next I started thinking about the movie The Book of Eli.  For some reason I was reminded of the scene towards the end when Denzel Washington arrives safely at Alcatraz where all of the forward thinkers are living with the intention of bringing their world back to its former state.  Eli tells them that he has a copy of the Bible to share with them, and Malcolm McDowell's character asks what condition it is in.
7. I don't remember the exact wording, but Eli says something like:  It is pretty beat up, but it will do.
8. At this point in the movie, viewers are beginning to realize the plot twist that the main character is in fact blind, which is what makes his answer regarding the state of the scriptures so beautiful to me.  Sometimes I feel like I can relate so well.
9. The scriptures were "written on his heart", so when asked to describe the bible's  condition, he referred to the battle and struggle that he had gone through getting it there.  Perhaps you can all relate to my feelings of empathy with the character.  Every believer has wounds and scars from the battle, some deeper than others.  But despite our often becoming so weary (is that the right usage, Jim?) in the fight, because of God's great love for us, we will do.
10. So even thought we are safest in the "harbor", to return to my original analogy, that is NOT our purpose here on Earth.
11. It is possible that making these connections seems like a bit of a stretch, but this is my train of thought and you are welcome to get off at the next station. 
12. I greatly enjoyed conversations with friends tonight at bible study, and was thinking back to this train of thought.  Fellowship can be soothing to my wounds.
13. I was also encouraged to read about the success of your first small group meeting, Jim.  We have been so encouraged by the small group that we are a part of.
14. Taylor and Jami: POST!
15. I'm too sleepy to re-read this, so I apologize for errors that I might have missed.