Have you ever watched a little kid trying to step on an escalator for the first time? If you put yourself in their shoes, you realize that it probably seems quite terrifying. Last week I forgot about this truth when I casually hopped on the escalator expecting the kids to follow suit. They didn't. Thankfully Matt was with them, but 1/4 of the way down I looked up and realized there was no way he was going to be able to get both of them on the escalator. So what did this classy mother do? Ran up the down escalator, of course.
We all managed to get down just fine. I'm sure it was a lovely show for everyone watching us in the bookstore.
Besides being a little stressful and a lot humbling, it served an excellent purpose in reminding me of a great analogy for the Christian life.
Imagine a really, really long escalator heading down (that escalator represents life). Jesus is standing at the top of the escalator beckoning us to turn and run up to him. But everything in this world is telling us to keep heading down; away from Christ.
Some of us turn around and listen. We might even acknowledge that Jesus is God, but we don't move. Its too easy to just stand there and let the escalator do the work for us. But there is a huge problem with that response to Christ, right? We're still headed away from where we need to be.
Others begin to walk towards Christ. They have a desire to live for him; they go to church; they even read their bibles sometimes. But there are pieces of their lives that they just can't surrender. There are things they are just unwilling to give up. Have you ever tried just walking backwards up a downward escalator? Where do you go? Yeah, nowhere. Not a great result.
So how do we get closer to Christ? Well, my friends, we throw caution to the wind, our pride over our shoulder, and we run like mad for the top. When we fix our eyes on Christ it means actively rejecting the lies that this world tries to sell us. When we follow Jesus it means purposefully living each day as one who has been redeemed.
Sometimes we won't look so classy or cool. Sometimes we'll be the ridiculous mother trying to run up the down escalator at Barnes & Noble to help our babies. But we'll find ourselves closer to Christ and filled with greater joy than we could imagine.
Its the beginning of the school year, and for a lot of us that means a new set of resolutions to make this year count. Lets begin the year by committing to run. No more letting the world's escalator take us farther from Christ. No more standing still. And no more walking. Lets not go through the motions of the Christian life; lets live it to its fullest!
Arm flailing, leg stomping pursuit of Christ.
That's my desire. Are you with me?
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