So, who is pulling you forward in life?? No, the question isn’t who’s pushing you around? Who is pulling you forward? Who is going slightly ahead of you but also going with you? Who is helping to stretch you? Who is helping you grow on this journey of life? This can be an important question to ask ourselves on our journey of faith, because really, this is a discipleship question.
What got me asking this question of myself are some recent experiences I’ve had with my dog Sophie. As many of you know, Sophie is a 6-year-old Golden Retriever. She’s well into middle age, but she still has a good amount of energy and is full of life especially when it comes to chasing squirrels or going in a direction she wants to go in. I can remember the days when Sophie was a puppy and when we went for our walks together I’d have to walk pretty slow so she could keep up. Then I could sort of jog with her, except she’d have to stop all the time to smell something. But now…now when we go for our morning walk, she usually goes with my pace, yet there are clearly times that she is leading the way and pulling me along; and sometimes pulling really hard!!
I’m sure we all recognize there are many different “forces” in the world around us. Some forces seek to make us better human beings. Other forces tend to distract us, pulling our attention away from where it needs to be, and getting us off track from the direction we really want to go. That’s why having a positive influence that is seeking to help us grow in a good way (pulling us forward), is so important.
I Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.” Proverbs 27:17 says “Iron sharpens iron.” In other words, I believe the message that both these passages are getting at is that it is good to have someone in our lives who pulls us along in a positive direction. It is good to have someone helping us become a better person…and a better disciple of Jesus. Plus, we should also be investing in people around us, helping others become better people and better followers of Jesus.
I’ll admit there are times on my morning walks that I want to slack off a bit or go in a different direction. But my coach…my morning-walk buddy…my Golden Retriever reminds me that my real goal is to keep this body of mine as healthy as possible and to stay in shape. Thus, slacking off my “pace” isn’t what I really want to do. So, Sophie pulls me forward and keeps me going, even on occasion trying to get me to move a little faster – “Come on… you can do it, Keith!”
So, seriously...who is pulling you forward in this journey of life? Who is helping you/me become the person you/I want to be? Who is helping us to become the disciple we want to be? If you have someone that fits that role, give thanks to God for that person…and thank them too! If you don’t have someone in that role, maybe your prayer should be, “God, send someone to pull me forward.”
Serving Together,
Pastor Keith