S3 E35 - Prepping for the Voyage of Faith

We are getting ready for our road trip to North Carolina for Thanksgiving, and that means making sure the car is ready for the voyage. We're not just going down the road, we're going up into hard mountain roads that twist and turn all the way. We've got to make sure we're ready for that kind of journey. Well...how do you view your journey of faith? Jesus says that this is a serious commitment, and we need to make sure we are prepared - or else we'll end up stranded in the middle of our voyage. This is a hard road, but what is waiting for us at the end is worth every mile. 

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Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?

Would you believe me? 
 Hi, I’m BJ Sipe – and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast. 

I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father.

Thanks for tuning in!

Next week is one of the most important days of the year for my wife and I, and we are so excited that we are going to get to spend it with some of the people that we love the most. Of course, I am referencing the Thanksgiving holiday that this nation will celebrate next Thursday. I don’t know plans you’ve made with your respective families, but I pray that it is full of joy and gratitude and love! It’s been several years since we have traveled for the feast, and it’s been even longer since everyone on Kylie’s side of the family has all been together. That’s why we are thrilled to be traveling this weekend to North Carolina to stay at my in-laws for the week. I’ll be working remotely from the beautiful Blueridge mountains leading up to the holiday, which will be magical. And we’re not the only ones going – we’re going to have 16 people and 4 dogs all together in one house. My in-laws, Kylie’s siblings and their spouses/children, as well as their adopted aunt & uncle. Needless to say, it’s going to be a Thanksgiving to remember. Naturally, we have some prep to do before we leave on Saturday. There is the typical packing, getting things situated at home, all those kinds of things before you leave for a trip. But then there are the things that sometimes we don’t think about – the one I’m primarily thinking about is getting the car ready to go. It’s not a super long trip, we are only traveling 6 hours away, but mountain miles are a different kind of wear and tear on a car. Not only that, but the last time we took the Flex up into the mountains we broke down in a location with no cell service. We ended up coasting into a local dump that happened to be open and used their landline to phone for help to come pick up the kids, then tow our car to a local shop. That was so fun…not. So, I’m not leaving any room for issues this time, at least not that we can help. We just recently put all new tires on the Flex, so that’s good to go. Next is taking it in to check on everything else. Change the oil, check all the fluid levels, make sure the brakes are in good condition, and the list goes on. We’re pretty routine with car maintenance so I’m not too concerned about having to get a lot of work done before we leave, it’s more about making sure it’s in the kind of condition that is ready for the voyage into the mountains. You’ve just got to be prepared to know what potentially lays in wait for you on the road ahead, and make sure that you’re ready for it before you get there. Otherwise, you might end up on the side of the road broken down instead of getting to your final destination that you originally set out for. We’re not just jumping in the car and running down to the five & dime shop down the road, this is a commitment – a road trip. If you don’t take preparation seriously, you’ll likely end up being sorry that you didn’t. 

Thinking about our preparation for this trip has me thinking about what I believe is one of the greatest issues with those of us who profess faith around the world. And the issue is this: how half-heartedly many approach their commitment as disciples of Jesus. If I were to ask a hundred people off of the street what it took to be a Christian, the likely answer I would get back is simply to pronounce your personal belief or trust in God to save you. You see, for so many who profess Jesus, becoming a Christian is like becoming a Costco member. Nothing really changes, nothing much is really required of you, just sign your name on the dotted line and go about your life as you saw fit. However, this is not the way that Christ described what discipleship would be like in his ministry. 

In Luke 14:25-35, Jesus is recorded as teaching the following regarding starting the journey of faith: “Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

What is the core of Jesus’ point here? If I were to put it into my own words, it would be something like this: following Jesus is a very serious commitment. As such, you’ve got to take some personal inventory to assess whether you are truly ready to take this voyage of faith or not before you ever begin. Jesus is not inviting us to take a leisurely coast down the road with him, he’s going to take us up into the hard mountain roads. He would teach in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” Did you catch that? Difficult is the road that leads to life! Discipleship to Jesus is a complete and total commitment that changes everything: our relationships, our goals, our values, our lifestyle, our hopes, our resources, our time, everything. Understanding this, Jesus is asking us to not just walk around the car and kick the tires so to speak…we’ve got to ask ourselves – are we really ready to make this kind of commitment? 

If we don’t take our commitment of faith seriously and count the cost before we even begin, what will end up likely happening is we can find ourselves broken down on the side of the road in the middle of our voyage of faith because we were not prepared for what lied ahead. In 1 Timothy 1:18-19, Paul would describe it this way as he encouraged the young evangelist to, “… fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and have shipwrecked their faith.” Here we see the same kind of language from the apostle Paul – these are those that did not take their commitment seriously, did not realize what would be required of them, and now their faith is regarded is shipwrecked. Broken down. Abandoned. Dead. 

Make no mistake, Jesus wants all of us to hop in the car and take this journey with him. But he wants us to understand just what kind of road trip we’re signing up for. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to require great cost. It’s going to require complete transformation and dying to our old selves. But if we prepare our hearts beforehand, count the cost & then buckle up, the destination waiting for us at the end of our journey of faith will make the long, hard road worth every last mile. 

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s second episode as we catch back up, and I would invite you back tomorrow as we will be dropping one last episode. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for future announcements or even some special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, share it with someone else that you think would benefit from it also. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.