ProvenMostra

When my oldest child, Conner, was two years old I accidentally locked him in my car while it was running.

Not my best moment. I panicked and there seemed no quick, obvious solution.

If I called a locksmith or my husband for my extra keys, Conner could be out of his seat and driving into a wall by the time they arrived.

So I decided I, myself, would lead my son to freedom.

He already knew how to crawl out of his car seat; the first step was already happening.

I began yelling and pointing to the lock, mimicking in the air how to pull the lock up. I must have looked like a fool. Several new parking lot friends gathered and joined in the fun. We were all yelling and mimicking unlocking the door together.

In this moment, my towheaded toddler was watching the show and laughing at all of us. Then, almost like he’d known all along exactly what we wanted him to do, he unlocked the door.

Why am I telling you this story? Because the image of our frantic attempts to get Conner to unlock the door came to mind as I studied the passage you read today. While we are trapped in our brokenness and sin, Jesus is waving His arms and showing us the way to freedom, to healing. Of course, He is a bit less hysterical about it.

What if I told you that to really be free, to enjoy God, to fulfill your purpose here on earth you must willingly RISK for the glory of God?

Would you search for a text that supports that supposition? Fair.

In John 9, it took guts for the blind man to wander down to the water believing what Jesus said would work.

It took guts for Jesus to ignore man-made religious laws to pursue the freedom and healing of one.

It takes guts for us to leave the lies and chains and sin and believe there is something better, something worth losing everything here to obtain.

Jesus pressed people.

He continually pressed them out of their comfortable lives, cultural expectations, predictable scenarios into freedom, healing, fullness, abundance, joy.

Of course, Jesus risked very intentionally, and He knew it was worth it.

But we know it is worth it, too.

What might God be asking you to risk for His kingdom’s sake?