ALL IN

We have a dog at home.  He is a cute dog.  He is a faithful dog.  He is a loving and loved pet.  He is a Cocker Spaniel... he is just about as dumb as a brick.

Champ suffers from many different phobias.  I find the most interesting is his fear of floor tile.  He can walk on certain tiles in the kitchen but not others.  They are what we call the 'scary' tiles because they are too far away from the safety of the carpet.  This dog has created an imaginary line that he cannot cross no matter what good gifts have fallen on the floor beyond that line.

Now I said Champ is not the smartest beast to walk the face of the earth, and I would like to think that I am further along the evolutionary chain; but I am well aware there are 'scary' tile in my life as well.  I do believe I limit God's possibilities for my life simply because of my unwillingness to take a risk.

For instance, I was watching last week's release of the Felix Baumgartner's leap from 127,000 feet up.  Watching this event one year later, I realized that the only way down was for him was to jump!  There was no other option once he committed to going.  Once he climbed into that capsule he was ALL IN!

When I think of the things I value in life, am I truly ALL IN?  Or do I simply go through the motions because I'm frightened by the 'scary' tile?

When it comes to matters of faith, I'm reminded of a quote offered as a way of understanding we Americans (don't know where I heard it):

We worship our work;
We work at our play;
And we play at our worship.

Now I don't want to turn worship into some form of work, proving myself righteous, and I certainly don't desire worship to be the object of my worship; but I would hope my experience of God's grace in my life would cause me to go beyond the scary tile (walking on water perhaps) and venture into uncharted waters.   I would hope that this relationship was be more definitive of who I am and where I am going.  I would hope that because of what God has already shown of himself in the past and my present, that looking to the future I could say, 'I'm ALL IN!'

What would you dream of doing for the purposes of the Reign of God if you knew you could not fail?  What would it be like to take failure off the board?

Are you in?

Peace,
Pal