“You are hardwired for an adventure as unique as you are. . . . But we are all wired for the ultimate adventure of following Jesus. . . . The very nature of the gospel is Jesus inviting the disciples on an adventure. To do what they’d never done and go where they’d never gone. Never a dull moment! You cannot follow Jesus and be bored at the same time.”- Mark Batterson
“Boredom is the root of all evil.”- Soren Kierkegaard
Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 1 of A Trip around the Sun as he reiterates his belief that a few defining moments — where God meets us and we meet God — determine our outlook on life. For example, Mark notes, it’s:
- Jacob’s wrestling match with God.
- Moses at the burning bush.
- Peter walking on water.
Therefore, Pastor Batterson contends, minimum risk equates to minimum satisfaction. However, maximum improbability equates to maximum possibility. In addition, Mark exhorts, take God, but not yourself, seriously. Because that enables you to walk to the beat of your own drum.
In conclusion, Mark tells a story about his grandfather’s prized possession. A collection of rare fossils. Hence, grandfather had one rule: don’t touch the fossils. Thus, Mark quips, those fossils represented the garden of good and evil.
So, like Adam and Eve, five-year-old Mark picked up one of the fossils. No harm, no foul, he thought. Except that the fossil slipped out of his little hands, hit the floor, and cracked. Mark expected the worst. But, to his surprise, his grandfather told him he valued him much more than that fossil.
Consequently, Mark encourages:
“It was my first glimpse of amazing grace. I saw the power of what happens when someone loves you when you least expect it and least deserve it. It’s life changing. It’s life-giving. That kind of grace sets you free from past guilt and future fear. It allows you to experience the present as a present — a gift from God.”
Today’s question: Do you see yourself as hardwired for adventure? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Saturate those trips around the sun”
