Thinking can be fruitful.
It can also be paralyzing.
Ideas stir thoughts and excite hearts. They stir passions and send unexplainable energy through the hands and feet of those they possess. They create a desire to move even greater than the one triggered by the sound of our favorite song. They spark the side of us that takes ownership. They unlock the depths of our dreams and creativity. They trigger what pulls at our hearts.
But they die.
Excitement fades. Hearts flutter for a short time and then resume their typical beats. The energy fades to exhaustion. The desire fades to the reality of our pre-existing schedules. We forget our convictions and go back to our comforts.
Why the contrast?
Sometimes ideas paralyze us. We get so excited that we live for the feelings associated with dreaming big. We never let ideas leave our minds or mouths.
Or Worse.
We tell someone where our heart is at with our conviction and idea and then never take any steps toward it. It's like we forget that faith requires action. We let our faith live in our minds and fail to follow through in obedience.
Or Even Worse.
We decide not to actually surrender. We decide it's someone else's responsibility to live out what we have been convicted to do because we already have other commitments.
If I'm not mistaken, each of the disciples already had commitments when Christ called them to follow Him. Yet they dropped everything about the life they already lived to follow Christ in a new life of obedience. I believe Scripture calls this "dying to self." I don't know where we get the idea we are the exception. God requires obedience, and sometimes that means giving up things we want, things we are already involved in, positions, status, paycheck, proximity to friends and family- the list goes on.
We often fail to realize that saying yes to Christ means saying no to anything He tells us to say no to. Serving Him looks a lot like marriage in that way. When you choose Christ you deny everything and everyone else- including yourself.
I know I like to dream a lot and think about all the places I could go and things I could do. I think of how cool it would be to follow God's lead around the world or on my campus and impact people.
But then I get cold feet. I stop just short of full obedience.
And may I just say, I regret not taking advantage of more opportunity- big and small.
So let's make a commitment.
Let's commit to thinking big. Dream. Be inspired. Do not place your human limitations on God. He cannot be bound by you.
Let's commit to sharing our ideas. Speak your mind and be encouraged by the people crazy enough to dream like you do. Be stretched by those who think and act even more whimsically than you do.
Let's commit to obeying.
When God says go, we move.
When God says stop, we listen.
When God reroutes, we drop everything and turn.
When God calls us to sacrifice, we decide He is worth more to us than the things He has given us.
Let's commit to doing.
So dream big. If you could do anything for God, what would it be? What would you create and where would you go?
God gives us passions and ideas on purpose. Use what He has given. Dream a little, live a lot, and obey.