“Maybe sometimes it’s riskier NOT to take a risk. Sometimes all you’re guaranteeing is that things will stay the same.” Danny Wallace
In 2024, I want to be like Dorothy Hoffner.
Last October 4th this 104-year-old Chicago woman jumped 13,500 feet
from a plane to take a chance of becoming the oldest person to tandem skydive.
She ditched her walker to skydive, and it wasn't even her first freefall. She first
skydived four years ago on her 100th birthday, but she wanted a redo
because, she said, she didn’t want to be pushed out of the plane…she
wanted to lead the jump. On October 4th, she did just that. Hoffner
tumbled out of a plane while 13,500 feet in the air, strapped to an
instructor. White hair billowing in the wind, she parachuted down to a grass
landing area. “Age is just a number,” Hoffner told a cheering crowd. After
cheers and congratulations from friends and family, she was handed back her red
walker.
Unlike Dorothy Hoffner, too
many of us essentially live in a rut. Someone defined a rut “as a grave with both
ends kicked out.” Here are some risks that I wish people would consider taking in
2024.
Get
out of your safe zone and check out if what the Bible says about God and going
to heaven is true. I have many friends who’ve decided that they don’t believe
there is a God, and that this world is basically a machine. They believe that
this life is it…when you die, you die. Many of them are well educated and very intellectual.
Most of them are good people who sincerely care about others.
Maybe
they have but if they haven’t, in 2024 I wish that they’d check the evidence out
for themselves. What I’m asking isn’t big, it’s just reading the four
biographies of Jesus in the New Testament for themselves – Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. My concern is that so many have swallowed what they have been taught and
never checked it out for themselves. If they did, maybe they’d come to the same
conclusion…yet I know of so many that once they actually read the Bible for
themselves with an open mind, were overwhelmed with who Jesus is, how much God
loves them and that He cares for them and their deepest needs. So, if you’re a
skeptic, in 2024, please take a risk – take the time and check out the evidence
for yourself.
Get out of your safe zone and check out whether what you believe about going to heaven is what God says in the Bible. One of the most frightening statements you’ll ever hear is: I think that God is like… And when someone dies, most of their friends and family aren’t honest about where they actually are. Someone could have blown off God all of their lives. Often the only time they mention God’s name is as a swear word but in the end, according to the conventional wisdom no matter how you live, everyone goes to heaven. Listening to these conversations, you’d almost think that they’d give Hitler a pass.
What Dad would sacrifice his only child for someone else, particularly an enemy. Yet, that’s exactly what God did when He sacrificed His Son, Jesus, on the cross for the sins of the world. Do any of us really believe that we could somehow pay God back for such an unbelievable sacrifice by being good, going to church, being a nice person…at our best we’re all still a big mess. So, if you’re religious but trusting what you think or have been taught, yet never checked out what God actually says in His Word about going to heaven, check out whether you are right.
The Book of Romans was written by Paul, a very religious guy who believed he was going to heaven because he was so religious. He found out he was dead wrong. Why not check out what Paul wrote and see if you’re right? In 2024, do some biblical fact checking for yourself.
Get out of your safe zone and take a step forward spiritually. Isn’t it amazing that those of us who know that we’re going to live with Jesus for eternity are often focused on temporal changes rather than spiritual and what are eternally significant changes? Perhaps it’s a sinful habit that you’ve been rationalizing about. Clinging to it is causing you to limp spiritually and withholding God’s best for your life. This is the year to repent and replace it with what God wants you to do.
Perhaps there are some spiritual habits that you know that you need to make part of your daily life, yet you keep procrastinating. Maybe it’s regularly reading your Bible, instead of just on Sundays when you’re at church. Maybe it’s committing to increase your prayer life or becoming more faithful in your church attendance or even joining a small group Bible study. So, if your spiritual life is like a rocking chair and not really going anywhere because some things need to change, make 2024 your year!
Get out of your safe zone and make what for you is a leap of faith. One of my heroes in the Bible is Caleb. When everyone else was shaking in their sandals in fear of the giants, Caleb with Joshua was singing a duet of “We can do it! We can do it!” When God finally brought Israel into the Promised Land, Caleb was 85-years-young. Rather than sitting out and saying, “I’m old. It’s someone else’s turn,” Caleb is biting on the bit to take new territory. Even though there were giants there, Caleb said, “I want that mountain.” Caleb was a man of faith who’d have gone after Moby Dick in a rowboat with a bottle of tartar sauce.
That’s who I want to be. That’s what I long for our church to be. Maybe for you it’s inviting that neighbor or co-worker to church? Maybe it’s sharing the gospel with that one you’ve been praying for that they will come to Jesus…and God is sending you? Maybe it’s giving so it tightens your budget a bit? Maybe it’s serving in a ministry where you’re not a natural or you’re nervous? It’s time for the people of faith to step out in faith. It’s time to dream big because we have a BIG God and go big!
In 2024, I’m packing my parachute! How about you? Let’s stop playing it safe and take some risks!
Get out of your safe zone and check out whether what you believe about going to heaven is what God says in the Bible. One of the most frightening statements you’ll ever hear is: I think that God is like… And when someone dies, most of their friends and family aren’t honest about where they actually are. Someone could have blown off God all of their lives. Often the only time they mention God’s name is as a swear word but in the end, according to the conventional wisdom no matter how you live, everyone goes to heaven. Listening to these conversations, you’d almost think that they’d give Hitler a pass.
What Dad would sacrifice his only child for someone else, particularly an enemy. Yet, that’s exactly what God did when He sacrificed His Son, Jesus, on the cross for the sins of the world. Do any of us really believe that we could somehow pay God back for such an unbelievable sacrifice by being good, going to church, being a nice person…at our best we’re all still a big mess. So, if you’re religious but trusting what you think or have been taught, yet never checked out what God actually says in His Word about going to heaven, check out whether you are right.
The Book of Romans was written by Paul, a very religious guy who believed he was going to heaven because he was so religious. He found out he was dead wrong. Why not check out what Paul wrote and see if you’re right? In 2024, do some biblical fact checking for yourself.
Get out of your safe zone and take a step forward spiritually. Isn’t it amazing that those of us who know that we’re going to live with Jesus for eternity are often focused on temporal changes rather than spiritual and what are eternally significant changes? Perhaps it’s a sinful habit that you’ve been rationalizing about. Clinging to it is causing you to limp spiritually and withholding God’s best for your life. This is the year to repent and replace it with what God wants you to do.
Perhaps there are some spiritual habits that you know that you need to make part of your daily life, yet you keep procrastinating. Maybe it’s regularly reading your Bible, instead of just on Sundays when you’re at church. Maybe it’s committing to increase your prayer life or becoming more faithful in your church attendance or even joining a small group Bible study. So, if your spiritual life is like a rocking chair and not really going anywhere because some things need to change, make 2024 your year!
Get out of your safe zone and make what for you is a leap of faith. One of my heroes in the Bible is Caleb. When everyone else was shaking in their sandals in fear of the giants, Caleb with Joshua was singing a duet of “We can do it! We can do it!” When God finally brought Israel into the Promised Land, Caleb was 85-years-young. Rather than sitting out and saying, “I’m old. It’s someone else’s turn,” Caleb is biting on the bit to take new territory. Even though there were giants there, Caleb said, “I want that mountain.” Caleb was a man of faith who’d have gone after Moby Dick in a rowboat with a bottle of tartar sauce.
That’s who I want to be. That’s what I long for our church to be. Maybe for you it’s inviting that neighbor or co-worker to church? Maybe it’s sharing the gospel with that one you’ve been praying for that they will come to Jesus…and God is sending you? Maybe it’s giving so it tightens your budget a bit? Maybe it’s serving in a ministry where you’re not a natural or you’re nervous? It’s time for the people of faith to step out in faith. It’s time to dream big because we have a BIG God and go big!
In 2024, I’m packing my parachute! How about you? Let’s stop playing it safe and take some risks!
Can
we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web
page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more
about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus
changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org
to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.
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