On Chargers, Cringers, and Having the Most Fun

Last evening, I went outside to sit for a while. My usual seat is on the patio, but this time, I headed to a vintage glider underneath my favorite oak tree. It was a good thing I looked before I sat, because a huge piece of a bone was in the seat.

I pondered the reasons for a bone in the glider for a moment, then threw it on the ground. Maggie and Mamie raced to see what I'd thrown.

Maggie was all over the bone in an instant, sniffing, licking, trying to take a bite.  Once she'd determined it was a bone and, therefore, potential food, she grabbed on to the smallest edge and started gnawing.

Mamie, on the other hand, was more cautious. She stood a foot or so away and stared. She stepped forward long enough to take a sniff or two, then jumped back again. Mamie wasn't sure, so she didn't take a chance with the bone.

Their responses to the bone mirrored their responses to life. Mamie is cautious. She holds back. She cringes a little. Maggie tackles everything head-on. She charges. 

Their approaches extend to strangers and new situations, as well as to bones in the yard. 

This morning, as I've pondered the tiny adventure of the bone, I'm left wondering about our own approaches to life. Some of us are cringers, like Mamie, and some are chargers, like Maggie. 

The difference in approach is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to strangers or new situations, but what about living the Christian life? When we hold back on faith and obedience, or on following, serving, or loving, we miss out on the best part of our faith. We miss the relationship that moving closer will give.

When we hold back on our prayers and make only "safe and certain" requests, we miss the great joy that comes when God-sized prayers are answered. 

When it comes to trusting Jesus, to obeying with wholehearted abandon, to faith and matters of prayer, are we chargers or cringers? The cringers play it safe, but I think the chargers have all the fun.

If we've been holding back in our relationship with Jesus, let's step a little closer, obey a little quicker, love a little deeper. Move in with reckless abandon so that we can say, along with the apostle Paul, "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain." That, my friends, is wide-open, reckless abandon, and it's where the excitement (and the power) begins.

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Craving Sin and Choosing Slavery

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