Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do,
than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Some times attributed to Mark Twain though unlikely.
What will we look back on twenty years from now and wish we would have
attempted to do?
William Wallace said it in a little different way in Braveheart when
rallying the Scots to engage a seemingly impossible battle that would
most assuredly kill many of them.
William Wallace said:
I AM William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my country men, here,
in defiance of tyranny.
You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are.
What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?
Soldier:
Against that? No, we'll run, and we'll live.
William Wallace:
Aye, fight and you may die, run, and you'll live... at least for a
while.
And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to
trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one
chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our
lives, but they'll never take...OUR FREEDOM!!!
many of us are not really living, we are existing, not overcoming, just
surviving. We are not walking in freedom but boredom, we no longer
hunger and thirst for what really satisfies and we are to distracted to
care anymore. We are retreating, like an army walking backwards.
What are our BOWLINES right now?
What is tying us to the dock, the familiar, the predictable, the safe
experience?
How many of us have settled for a "safe harbor" instead of embracing
the life the Spirit of God beckons to us to dare to live?
How many of us have settled for less than God would have us experience
because of our laziness, complacency, unbelief, past pain or present
pressures? What has you tied down? Is that a God binding or is it a
fleshly chain that has you watching other people sail and you stay
secure but empty?
A wind is blowing right now and if you hoist your spiritual sails it
promises to move you. It may move you in internal ways or it may
reorder your life on a more visible way but it will take you somewhere
guaranteed. Are we willing to be moved?
Will you be wanting to trade your days in the years ahead?
I want to live with no regrets today...that is true freedom!!!
4 comments:
The real reason I love my faith so much is that I love freedom. This is the gift above all others for me. I don't think most people realize the freedom of Christianty. I know there are people holier than me, people that pray more, love more and give more. But I love and appreciate my freedom. Thanks to God. -Matt
You know, the person who's been coming to my mind a lot over the past few weeks, and especially so since your message about breakthrough, is Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings. Here was a woman who was not content to sit at home doing those things that were expected of women. She wanted to be in the heart of the battle, fighting for and beside those she loved. I believe that God has placed this image in my heart as an inspiration, that faith and love and hope and zeal are expressed through action--serving, sacrificing, taking risks, and whole-heartedly pursuing (with our own hands and the blessing of God)the passions God has birthed in our hearts.
I am praying every day that God will show me where He wants me to be, and what He wants me to do. But until He does, I'm going to do SOMETHING, and if He doesn't like that something, then He can re-direct me as He sees fit. May His matchless name be praised forever. Thank you, Eric, for your faithfulness and for allowing God to work and speak through you.
its important for us, in the process of providing life for a rising generation, that we, the present generation - get one too!x
This falls so in line with what I've been feeling lately.
Grab life by the bal...uh...hand and hold on tight!
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