A Curious Girl: The most dangerous thing I've ever done

Mark, the preacher from Toronto (ok, so he was English, but that's where he lives!) said yesterday, after the Great Commandment (Love God with all your heart, soul mind, and love others as you love yourself) comes the Great Commission (make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have taught you). Only after - not before - that radical lifestyle only comes from loving God and others.

Checking Kristen's diary today, I saw again the web address for a book called In His Steps, by Charles M. Sheldon. It's about a church that pledge to do nothing without first asking that fateful question - 'What would Jesus do?' I thought that WWJD was a new initiative, but it's over a century old! Wow! (Probably more, I wouldn't be surprised now...) I'd previously thought as WWJD as a failsafe in sticky situations - ie. the bracelets etc are there to remind you when you come across trouble - but the book made me realise that it's something we should apply to everything we do if we love God. Doing everything in Jesus's name - doing everything as if we were Jesus.

It reminded me of the most dangerous vow I ever made - 'Whenever good needs doing, I'll do it!' - if I could tell you about every time I've broken that since, you'd be here all day, week, month... Once a standard like that is applied to life, things start to happen. Scary things. It's why you (I) need to love and trust God to do it. Faith is spelt R - I - S - K!

Another thing the man yesterday said was that we are freed to do good - not tied to do good. I realised that's true too :) With God on our side, we can take risks we couldn't take if we couldn't trust in him. And we can take fear, suffering, the disapproval of friends and family, and the opposition from people, because he's there with us. 'I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'

Sooo... as inspired by the book above (go read! go read! go read!)... here's the most dangerous thing I've ever done. Just applying it to my life today (I'm on half term holiday, hence how this morning's entry came in) I realised that I really ought to tidy my bedroom (instead of that 'Mess is so much more comfortable' excuse!) and do some homework... and not spend the entire day on the internet.

What I believe Jesus would do in my place

- Pray regularly and passionately, praising God and asking for his help for friends, enemies, family, aquaintances, and anyone he (I) knows to be in need.

- Study hard in preparation for the work in which he will serve God; I want to give God my very best, and that includes intellectually.

- Extend love to even the difficult people around him - take time for people who need a caring listener.

- Speak the truth when it needs saying, instead of keeping quiet, and share the Gospel with the people who need it.

- Remember to express appreciation for people who help him out at work and be as helpful as possible, thinking, 'How can I help?' not 'Will someone help me?'

- Not allow work and money to overtake more important things, like going to Church, and Afternoon Delight (Special Sunday Faith and Light meet ups which happen every now and again).

- Show real love for the kids at Invasion, being patient with them and taking time for even the most quiet ones.

- Being careful with his money, and not squander it on stuff, like chocolate every time he walks past a vending machine, but put it to the best use.

- Stand up to fears and do what God has called him to do - in my case, if I can, do a gap year and not be stopped by financial/educational fears, and become a teacher for unselfish reasons, even if the job is pants from my point of view (hey, guess what, Clive and I have been talking...)

- Be nice to his teachers and not give them trouble over homework, handing it in late so often...

- Put friends before surfing and story writing etc.

- Use writing gifts for helping/educating/challenging people, not just for money

- Smile at people!! :)

- Tidy his bedroom... erk...

- Return borrowed books within a reasonable amount of time (I have a number of borrowed books I've yet to return to their rightful owners...)

- Make use of Homestudy and study periods for actual work/revision, not just browsing New Scientist and surfing.

Phew... it's a start, huh? I have a feeling more will be added, but at the moment, that's it :) Anyways... I don't know what's going to happen. I want to dedicate this time onwards to asking 'What would Jesus do?' So I'm going to start a new chapter entitled just that. This is exciting, but it's also very scary!! Please pray for me, and if you want to do the same, please e-mail me (menu below) and I'll pray for you, too.

Post script - yesterday, Sarah (Christina's sister), Jess and I were walking to Afterchurch and discussing how things are difficult when we're not at places like the camp at Detling. Sarah compared it to riding a bicycle - at Detling, you're at the top of a hill and free-wheeling down, but at school you're cycling hard up again. This seemed true but a bit empty... so Detling is easy and school is hard? And your point is? Sarah told this analogy to Paul, a youth leader at our church, who told us that Paul (the Apostle, not the youth leader) instructed Timothy to train himself to be Godly. The upwards cycling thing is like that - of course it's difficult, but it's sure worth it when you reach the top. Like going to the gym... once the aches and pains are gone, it really was worth the effort.

Random word for today:

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