Devil in the Details
I'm listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's "The Great Adventure" as I type this. I've had this song on my play list since grade school, and I was recently reminded of it by a Chapman special on the Gospel Network a few weeks back. Today, I finally found time to bust it out again.
When Steven Curtis first came out with this in 1992, contemporary Christian music was only just beginning to stretch its legs in the upbeat, encouraging tones that you hear a lot of the time on the local radio stations today. So the idea of the Christian walk as "the ride of your life" and "a new horizon" and "the glorious unknown"- in other words, the biggest thrill ride since "Top Gun" opened at Six Flags - was relatively new to listeners, as it hadn't yet been popularized over the air waves.
(Just for the record, I've never ridden "Top Gun." I'm no thrill-seeker when it comes to roller-coasters, particularly the twisty-turny-take-you-upside-down kind.)
Steven Curtis said on the GN special that he wrote the song, in part, to dispel the image of the life of a Christ-follower as, in the words of the song, "long-faced religion." In other words, there's nothing sad, pathetic, or boring about living for Jesus. It's exciting, stimulating, and downright unpredictable. Our eyes and ears should be constantly tuned for the next big "Lazarus" event or "water turned to wine" scene to take place. Or better still, we should be alert for the next chance God gives to witness in His name.
I can certainly see the next phase of my life - that of a husband to Anna Kate - as God's next big adventure for me. Am I ready for it? Yes. But not by myself - it's God who must make me ready. He's given me many opportunities to learn and prepare to become the husband He wants me to be since I proposed to Anna nearly a year-and-a-half ago. Heck, since the day I met her, even.
But it's easy, in the days leading up to the biggest day of our lives (no hyperbole intended), to get lost in the details of a wedding. And the devil lurks in the details. Yes, that devil.
Satan will use any and every opportunity to steal God's people away from Him. Even an event as sacred as a wedding. He knows he's no match for the Almighty. But God loves His creation. What a fool, he thinks. To love beings that lie, cheat, steal, and make grandiose wrecks of the gifts they are given. To sacrifice Onself for the ones that spat in His face, mocked Him, disowned Him, and abandoned Him like cowards.
God loves us even when we don't love back. Our neighbor or Him.
Without the armor of God, we're easy pickings for Satan.
This past month, and the next several weeks leading up to June 6th, promise to be busy ones, to say the least. Wedding showers lined up for consecutive Saturdays. Moving luggage. Filling out & mailing invitations. Final payments on the honeymoon, wedding rings, catering, rehearsal dinner. Gifts for the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Signing the marriage license. Not to mention all of this coincides with the typical end-of-school-year hoopla that May and June bring. Funny how I can say that with such a blase' tone when it's only my second year to experience it.
While all of that is exciting, to be sure, it promises plenty of invitations for the devil to get a foot hold. Anna and I touched on this subject in one of our Bible Studies last week (we're reading Max Lucado's Experiencing the Life of Jesus. It's terrific). We were reminded that our ultimate call is to be daily followers of Christ, ready to minister, ready to witness, ready to worship at all times.
How can we do that if the details, be they the regular ones of life or the excess ones of a wedding, leave us exhausted, cranky, and irritable? When we turn our focus away from God and toward a routine of checking off the next task on a list, our life becomes exactly what Steven Curtis warns us about: long-faced religion. There's no joy, no spark, no fire for the Holy Spirit to flourish. Sure, we'd continue to go to church, sing in choir, do Bible Study, and talk about our faith when given a chance. But without constant infusions of the Holy Spirit's power, our witness grows weak. And it is a sure bet to happen when we let Satan consume us in the details of life.
We can only sustain a fire for so long before we run out of kindling. That's when we must run to the One Who started the fire. Jesus.
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." ~ Ephesians 5:8-11; 15-17
Living in the light of God makes the details of life seem decidedly not mundane. Every day, we have a chance to "Top Gun" it. To make the most of every chance God gives us, not only for us, but for others.
Without even thinking about it, I think back to a statement I made in my high school Valedictory address that, somewhat appropriately, encapsulates my thoughts:
"Tests of faith lie ahead, and there's no escaping them - one way or another, we have to face them.
"Without God, it can be unbearable and frightening.
"With God, it can be a great adventure."
When Steven Curtis first came out with this in 1992, contemporary Christian music was only just beginning to stretch its legs in the upbeat, encouraging tones that you hear a lot of the time on the local radio stations today. So the idea of the Christian walk as "the ride of your life" and "a new horizon" and "the glorious unknown"- in other words, the biggest thrill ride since "Top Gun" opened at Six Flags - was relatively new to listeners, as it hadn't yet been popularized over the air waves.
(Just for the record, I've never ridden "Top Gun." I'm no thrill-seeker when it comes to roller-coasters, particularly the twisty-turny-take-you-upside-down kind.)
Steven Curtis said on the GN special that he wrote the song, in part, to dispel the image of the life of a Christ-follower as, in the words of the song, "long-faced religion." In other words, there's nothing sad, pathetic, or boring about living for Jesus. It's exciting, stimulating, and downright unpredictable. Our eyes and ears should be constantly tuned for the next big "Lazarus" event or "water turned to wine" scene to take place. Or better still, we should be alert for the next chance God gives to witness in His name.
I can certainly see the next phase of my life - that of a husband to Anna Kate - as God's next big adventure for me. Am I ready for it? Yes. But not by myself - it's God who must make me ready. He's given me many opportunities to learn and prepare to become the husband He wants me to be since I proposed to Anna nearly a year-and-a-half ago. Heck, since the day I met her, even.
But it's easy, in the days leading up to the biggest day of our lives (no hyperbole intended), to get lost in the details of a wedding. And the devil lurks in the details. Yes, that devil.
Satan will use any and every opportunity to steal God's people away from Him. Even an event as sacred as a wedding. He knows he's no match for the Almighty. But God loves His creation. What a fool, he thinks. To love beings that lie, cheat, steal, and make grandiose wrecks of the gifts they are given. To sacrifice Onself for the ones that spat in His face, mocked Him, disowned Him, and abandoned Him like cowards.
God loves us even when we don't love back. Our neighbor or Him.
Without the armor of God, we're easy pickings for Satan.
This past month, and the next several weeks leading up to June 6th, promise to be busy ones, to say the least. Wedding showers lined up for consecutive Saturdays. Moving luggage. Filling out & mailing invitations. Final payments on the honeymoon, wedding rings, catering, rehearsal dinner. Gifts for the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Signing the marriage license. Not to mention all of this coincides with the typical end-of-school-year hoopla that May and June bring. Funny how I can say that with such a blase' tone when it's only my second year to experience it.
While all of that is exciting, to be sure, it promises plenty of invitations for the devil to get a foot hold. Anna and I touched on this subject in one of our Bible Studies last week (we're reading Max Lucado's Experiencing the Life of Jesus. It's terrific). We were reminded that our ultimate call is to be daily followers of Christ, ready to minister, ready to witness, ready to worship at all times.
How can we do that if the details, be they the regular ones of life or the excess ones of a wedding, leave us exhausted, cranky, and irritable? When we turn our focus away from God and toward a routine of checking off the next task on a list, our life becomes exactly what Steven Curtis warns us about: long-faced religion. There's no joy, no spark, no fire for the Holy Spirit to flourish. Sure, we'd continue to go to church, sing in choir, do Bible Study, and talk about our faith when given a chance. But without constant infusions of the Holy Spirit's power, our witness grows weak. And it is a sure bet to happen when we let Satan consume us in the details of life.
We can only sustain a fire for so long before we run out of kindling. That's when we must run to the One Who started the fire. Jesus.
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." ~ Ephesians 5:8-11; 15-17
Living in the light of God makes the details of life seem decidedly not mundane. Every day, we have a chance to "Top Gun" it. To make the most of every chance God gives us, not only for us, but for others.
Without even thinking about it, I think back to a statement I made in my high school Valedictory address that, somewhat appropriately, encapsulates my thoughts:
"Tests of faith lie ahead, and there's no escaping them - one way or another, we have to face them.
"Without God, it can be unbearable and frightening.
"With God, it can be a great adventure."
posted by david @ 10:48 AM
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