So, I finished reading The Master Plan of Evangelism, and my brain is kind of spinning back on itself, especially after seeing how what it discusses is so clearly reflected in scripture and realizing that I never saw it before. Sure, I exercised it, but I never realized that was what was going on. Christ, when He was with the disciples, was investing in them like nobody’s business, and as He lived by example, they were learning to be more and more like Him, until the time when He finally left them, when they would go out into the world and carry on His divine legacy.
Hm.
Today I woke up and spent time with God, writing in the very last page of my journal (don’t worry, I brought a few others with me). The last page of a journal feels rather final to me, and I’m very careful not to “waste” it. I don’t even really know what that means. It makes sense in my brain.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to be a Christian at the internship, and while I know that might seem odd, it’s something I’ve really been struggling with. I’m not fluent in work place protocol and ethics, and I know I’m naive and clearly treading on foreign soil. And while I know that God isn’t bound by rules and possible discomforts, I also know I tend to dive headfirst into something, thinking I can do one thing, when in reality it’s the exact opposite of what I should do. Because that makes total sense, sarcasm intended.
I talked to my mom last night about different things, including this thing, and she encouraged me to maybe, oh, I don’t know, TALK TO GOD ABOUT IT, and ask Him to “marry” my relationship with Him to my work place. So I talked to Him about it this morning. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the upcoming years, but regardless of what God has planned, I want to be able to be a Christian, a deliberate follower of Christ open about my faith, wherever I might be.
I studied for French some and then headed out to have lunch with Karly. We ate eggplant Parmesan and spent an hour or so talking about different things. It was really nice to talk to her :). She and I returned to my dorm and talked some more and then after she left I changed into comfy clothes and continued working on my mid-term paper. I would just like to say that, though I love to research, these things are just awful. Like caterpillars.
Soon after, I headed to the gym and worked out for an hour or so. I decided to bike in the gym, trying to dispel the not-so-logical logic of building endurance for biking while I’m actually biking around the city, rather than including biking in my work out so that when I actually bike, I might be more conditioned. Hm.
This reminded me a lot of what Paul talks about in 2 Timothy, when he writes “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season” (4:2). While it’s obvious that there’s a difference between building up physical endurance and building up spiritual endurance, they can be approached the same way. Christians shouldn’t figure they’ll build endurance when they’re tempted, especially not if they don’t study the word when they’re not tempted or tried or experiencing difficulties. God says via Peter to “prepare [our] minds for action,” (1 Peter 1:13) to be ready to fight, to endure in Him, when the time comes. A soldier wouldn’t go out onto the battlefield without first training and learning the ins and outs of carrying, cleaning, and firing his gun, or what to do should the enemy advance. So Christians shouldn’t step out onto the battlefield of the mind, the battlefield of life, without knowing their weapons, the Sword that God has given them, His word, which is absolute Truth.
So, like most Saturdays, today was rather ordinary. But that’s okay 🙂 It was nice to talk to Karly, to get things done, and just hang out with God. It’s hard to believe it’s almost November. Time is moving much faster than I thought it would, but it’s okay, because God doesn’t change, and though time will continue moving faster as I grow older (so it seems and so I’ve been told by those older than I), He’ll never move, constant, a fixed point, His character always what He says it is, and He always being who He says He is. And I’m counting on that.
