Faith in Christ, on the other hand, gives life in great abundance.  In Christ, we become more male and female, not less; our passion and fervor can be bigger, not smaller.  Our appetites, desires, and passions can find full and appropriate expression in Jesus.  There are, of course, destructive habits and desires that we must put off (Col. 3:5-9), but coming to Christ does not mean that we have to arbitrarily put off everything!  To the contrary, many of our passions and tendencies are not inherently evil but are a remarkable and good part of our created being.  Christ fulfills and completes theses unique and acceptable expressions of our humanity for his purpose and glory.  Even the twisted and warped passions and appetites can be redeemed and transformed by his power.

A sign that faith in Christ has turned religious is when diversity is not treasured and passion is suppressed.  The liberation Christ brings can easily morph into legalism.  Or we can come to believe that anything thrilling and enjoyable surely cannot be wholesome and right.  Religion constantly lurks in the shadows seeking to rob us of our humanity, strip us of every pleasure – to kill us.

The world with good reason rejects religion, because it can dehumanize and kill.  The world without good reason rejects Jesus, because it mistakes him for religion.  And we give the world ample reason to miss Jesus when we do not live into our passions and desires; when we do not truly live.  The world needs to witness that they can be saved to and not just from something.  They can be saved to Jesus and for life!

Living in past glories and failures or looking for something, some place or someone greater in the future will cause me to miss the people, places and purposes right in front of me. The challenge is to give attention to where the journey takes me today. Will I go into the conversations I hear, enter the lives I encounter, take the opportunities that open before me, shoulder the disappointments and hurts of others, embrace the questions that present themselves, love those who appear at my door? If I walk past these, I forever forgo these, as I may never encounter these people, places, and purposes again.

The truth is that how I journey depends upon how I see God. If I see God as fully engaged in the whole of life, I will do the same. If I see him as aloof, distant, and uninvolved, I will be the same. My experience with the Divine tells me that there are no small people or small places, meaningless conversations or insignificant encounters, no one outside of his touch and love. And thus, my journey should be with hands, eyes and heart wide open to the world before me.

I journey today, living the next step, leaning into the upcoming turn, loving those in front of me – and in this journey lies ample reward.