Did You Know?

One of our family's favorite shows to watch together is America's Funniest Home Videos. We laugh hard as we watch the crazy situations people get themselves into.

One of the questions I often ask out loud is, "What were they thinking"!?

I get an extra kick out of wondering what some people must have been thinking when they realized it was all going wrong. Most likely there is no time to think about it, but you know they are looking back and asking themselves, "What just happened"!?

Can you relate? Have you ever been in those moments in life when everything took a turn for the worse? Those moments when you realized that things were not what you thought they were going to be?

I know I have. I remember one time in particular when I was just a kid. I was jumping a ramp on my bike. It was basically a piece of plywood propped up on about 4 bricks and a couple 2x4's. Super stable, right?

About the second time I went over the ramp at full speed I pulled up to lift the front wheel into the air and both of my hands slipped off the handlebars.

Needless to say, my bike went straight off the end of the ramp, front tire first. Not exactly the perfect type of take off. for about fifteen feet I did a wheely on my front tire.

To this day I do not understand why I did not crash. I'll have to ask my Angels some day how they pulled that one off. All I remember is thinking, "CRUD!" and my eyes watering like someone had just thrown a handful of sand in them. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground, on two tires, riding off to safety.

What do we do when we realize that what we thought was going to be is not what IS going to be?

How do we respond when we are confronted with a new truth? One that demolishes our traditions and requires a new response, new habits and a new attitude?

What do we do when we go to jump the ramp of life and all the sudden we've lost our grip and we have to accept that things will never be the same?

What I am referring to is a revelation of truth that has been there all along, but we are only now realizing. There is one of these moments in Matthew 28.

After Jesus lived his life, gave his life and defeated death with life, he appeared again to his followers. The next to last sentence that Matthew records from the mouth of Jesus is this, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and TEACHING THEM TO OBEY ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU...."

WAIT?!? WHAT!?! Teach them ALL you have commanded us?

I can almost see the disciples looking at each other like, "I HOPE you took good notes!"

They are now on one wheel, hoping to land safely. But what about us? Jesus' modern day disciples? How many of the commands that Jesus taught do we know and obey?

At family.life.church we are on a quest to learn and make a part of our everyday life, living the commands of Christ.

The best I can see so far, there are about 49 general commands that Jesus gave. And the only way to obey them is to know them. I believe that one day we will be tested on how well we did these commands. And if we are going to teach others to obey them, then we must be about obeying them ourselves.

Over the next several weeks, this blog will outline the commands that we are reviewing in our church. Our hope, is that by understanding what it is Christ wants to us to do, that we can take confidence in the truth we are following.

Not just assuming that the ramp is steady, that we have a firm grip, and that the bike will land perfectly, but KNOWING that we are pursuing TRUTH, abandoning assumption and doing everything in our power to get it right!

So jump on, let's discover this truth and let it transform our lives.