I don't like roller coasters. I don't like having my body jerked around violently, and I don't like to feel like I'm staring death in the face. Blame it on my fear of heights or blame it on the one very bad experience I had on a carnival ride growing up, but I will not get on one of those crazy rides unless I'm dragged kicking and screaming, and even then I can only get through it by squeezing my eyes tightly shut and praying forcefully for protection and survival. In spite of my deep loathing for wild rides, I realize that I am in the minority. Look at how long people will wait in lines at amusement parks to try out the latest death trap ride. Look at how much amusement parks charge for a day of adventure and how many people willingly cough up the money for the freedom to take a few roller coster rides and wait in a few 2-3 hour long lines in the blazing hot sun. Most people like the thrill. And for some people, the adrenaline rush of a fast roller coaster is not enough. These are the people who go sky diving and base jumping in between amusement park visits.
While I certainly don't find fault with all the adventure seekers out there, and I even married one of them, I do sometimes wonder if there would be such widespread thrill seeking behavior if we were living more exciting lives. For some people, base jumping and roller coaster riding is fun because it's the only time they feel their pulse quicken and they long for more of that rush. When I look around, I see people sleep walking through life. We are bored with our jobs and our routines and our relationships so much that we seek escape from our doldrums in the extreme.
If we were living our lives by the Holy Spirit's leading, our lives would be anything but dull. Ask Paul or ask any of the apostles if following God's call on his life was boring or if they were ever at such a shortage for adventure that they had to create it artificially through a wild amusement park ride. Friends, walking with God His way is a far more wild ride than any steel loop-de-loop adventure you may seek for a quick and fleeing rush. If we sought His power and His will for our lives with the same enthusiasm as we seek man-made adventure, amusement parks may have to start lowering their admissions fees because we wouldn't need them as often. In following hard after God, we would get our adrenaline fixes in our daily lives.
In Ephesians 5:18-20 Paul writes:
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, getting high the way the world gets high is not going to do you any good nor is it doing any good for the Kingdom. If you want to lead a less boring life, let the Holy Spirit fill you and lead you and then you will truly find a reason to sing and praise His name. We can still go to amusement parks and base jump as often as we want, but we will no longer go to fill an excitement void in our lives because we will already have enough excitement to spare if we are walking closely with God and obeying His call.
Posted by Kim at July 20, 2006 10:19 AM