Life is about risk. Either you avoid it, am ambivalent about it, or chase it like crazy. I've done all three from time to time. All the choices have their place and time in our lives. Risk isn't about choice. We have no choice but to encounter risk every day of our lives. What we do and how we do with risk is where positive consequences and negative consequences are dealt out in our lives and the lives of those around us. The Bible is full of men and women (children too) who actively engaged risk from God's standpoint. If the saints of the past can and did live in risk, then so can you and I. That doesn't mean that the choices and end results won't be hard to deal with. Where some risk is easy, other risk is difficult. With the latter we sometimes find ourselves in the position of questioning the wisdom of risk. Maybe you, like me, have been tempted (and even did) to quit. The cost seemed to high, the outcome wasn't visible, or perhaps pressure from others impacted you and we quit.
In order to quit something, you must first begin that something. Risk is that way as well. We are trained as children to take risks or to avoid them. Depending on your family dynamics you either lived in one of the three categories of risk listed above. Raised by a pastor? Your risk may be minimum. Raised by an accountant you may not even register as taking risks. Raised by a police officer or fireman and your need for risk is great. These are generalities and not necessarily applicable to all professions. There is something, though, that marks our conscious and unconscious during our growing up that predestines us to deal with risk as it surfaces in our lives. For instance, how many parents have yelled at their kids to not run into the street or parking lot? I cannot even remember how many times I have told my kids to be careful over the years. Okay, I still tell my adult children and grandchildren to be careful. Did Mary tell Jesus to be careful? I believe that she did and rightfully so.
The biggest risk in our lives doesn't come from getting in the car and on the freeway or asking our boss for a pay raise. The most overwhelming risk isn't about whether we get that surgery or are waiting for that person we love to return from surgery. It's not even when our kids walk to school for the first time or go on their first solo car drive. The biggest risk of our lives is also the most important risk we will contemplate...ever. Just what we need for this risk to be engaged is first and foremost knowledge and insight, second contemplation of the facts and feelings and third, a decision that will ultimately change our lives forever. I'm talking about becoming a Christian. EVERYTHING is at risk. Our lives are woven together with a fabric that includes our friends, family, job and co-workers, and every other facet of our life. Everything in and around our lives is changed with our decision regarding risk. Even if we choose to do nothing there are ramifications of that choice and those areas of our lives are still changed.
When we try a new food, we risk. When we stand up for ourselves, we risk. When we drive on the freeway, we risk. There is always risk involved in any action in our lives be they positive or negative. With the choice to become Christian the risk is multiplied as we apply the Gospel to our lives. Our changed lives will bring up questions. we will have some of those in our lives leave us while others become closer. Our life example to our children, spouse, other relatives and friends as well as our workplace will be forever based upon a new set of morals and priorities. Christ will be speaking through us and the Holy Spirit will be living in us. God the Father will sustain us and together we will face the daily risk that our world presents. In the end times there will be a time when our faith will endanger our lives and the lives of those we care about. Was the risk of making the choice to follow Jesus worth it? Yes, and more!
Today you and I will face risks. Some small and others large. It's not that we have risk in our lives; but rather, it's about us choosing to engage that risk on whatever level it's presented to us. What will your response to risk be today?
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