JULY THEME: Being A Risk Taker

“A ship is always safe at the shore - but that is NOT what it is built for.” ― Albert Einstein

The older I get, the more cautious I am. I often hear myself issuing warnings to my grandsons when they are at our house. "Be careful going down the stairs, you might fall." "Get down from there, you'll break a leg". "Don't touch that, it's dirty". And the list goes on. I wish sometimes they would just sit in chairs and read...but that's not what young children were designed to do. Children learn by exploring - by taking risks and by looking for new adventures.

The Apostle Paul lived life on the edge, always pressing forward. This is what he wrote:

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

Paul knew that in order to accomplish the task, he needed to take risks. Where do you place yourself on the RISK scale? Are you as ‘out there’ as Paul was? Are you somewhere in the middle with days of great faith in what God can do in and through you, but on other days you shrink from the task? Or are you completely at the other end of the scale with the attitude that “I’m saved – I’m going to Heaven – it’s not my job to save the world”?

Consider those rugged, unlearned fishermen as Jesus told them to drop their nets and follow Him. He promised to make them ‘fishers of men’ and they immediately left everything they’d ever known – their security – and risked it all to follow Him.

Each one of us could play it safe and stay home, but 'that's not what we were built for'.

Blessings,

Rev. Ginette Howse

Lead Pastor

Malvern Christian Assembly