Danger

Welcome back to another edition of SADness & Truth! It's been awhile since the last newsletter, and I hope everyone has been doing great! As it is nearing the end of the school year, and summer is fast approaching, I thought that I would tell you all about something that I used to have a blast doing during the summer as a little kid.

Do you remember Slip n' Slides? Those long pieces of plastic that you cover in water, throw your body on and slide! My brother and I played with those alot as kids. We used to live in a house that had a two leveled front yard with a rock wall, about 3 feet tall, that separated the upper yard from the lower yard. I remember deciding one summer that it would be fun to get 2 Slip n' Slides, have one end at the top of the rock wall and the other pick up 3 feet below in the lower yard. We would take a running start from the top, slide off the wall and, hopefully, continue sliding below. Sometimes it hurt, afterall we were falling on our stomachs from 3 feet up, and we could have potentially hurt ourselves by missing the slide below, sliding into the rocks, or many other things, but it was great and we did it despite the danger.

Similarly, we would often ride our bicycles down the hill in our back yard, off the 4 foot wall and onto the concrete patio below. Oh we set up a ramp of sorts made up of two 4 inch boards, one sticking straight out from the top of the wall and one holding that one up, to make the 4 foot fall a bit better, but it was still ridiculously stupid.

These are just a few of the supid things I did as a kid, but it makes me think about my life as a Christian. I did crazy, dangerous things as a child because I had no fear, and the things I was doing brought me joy and thrill. Our lives as Christians should be the same way. God calls us to do some crazy things, and yes, dangerous things. He never said that following Him would be a walk in the park. He said we would be picking up our cross every day, that we would face persecution and that Satan himself would fight against us.

'Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."' - Matthew 16:24

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."

- Matthew 24:9

However, despite all of this God also tells us not to be afraid. He tells us to be like little children, having no fear and absolute faith in Him. Christianity is not boring, safe or simple it is dangerous and exciting, but through this we can experience the joy and thrill that comes from the fact that "perfect love drives out fear." So embrace the love, embrace the danger, put your total faith in that perfect love!

Do not be afraid!