There Goes Jim

I recently traveled to a few different provinces in the Philippines. As we entered each new place, there was one thing I couldn’t help but notice was the same wherever we went: a lot of people just sitting and watching life pass them by. It was especially noticeable when we would stay in one place for an extended time. I saw the same people day after day, sitting in the same place, doing the same thing: absolutely nothing.

A lot of Christians are living their lives the same way. Oh, they’re busy with church and work and school and living a “morally upright life,” but their lives aren’t amounting to anything. They’re lulled into apathetic contentment with the same cycles of life that everyone else is living: eat, sleep, work, [insert hobby], repeat. Of course, these rhythms vary with each individual, but you get the gist of it. It’s a mundane cycle. They’re just watching life pass them by.

Is that really what Jesus envisioned for His followers when He said that He came to give life, and give it abundantly? ¹ I think not.

Jesus was a go-getter kind of guy. He was always on the move. Always “about the Father’s business.” ² He was hard-working, creative, and passionate. He had life inside of Him, and it was contagious! When people met Him, they were either repulsed or captivated. For the latter, their lives got flipped upside down. No longer did they continue in their routine existence. They found out what they were truly created for and lived it.

There’s an 80-year-old guy that lives in one of the provinces that we visited. One day, my friends wanted to buy something from the convenience store, so we parked on a side street and waited. As we were about to leave, we saw that 80-year-old drive by in his cherry red Jeep. Someone pointed and said, “There goes Jim!” I couldn’t help but compare his life to those I described earlier. Jim’s not just sitting around, waiting for life to pass him by. He’s out there, living each day as if it’s his last. That’s what meeting Jesus did to him.

I’ll never forget the day that Jim, with a sparkle in his eye, looked at me and said, “I just want to go home.” He smiled gently and continued, “I’m grateful to the Lord. But I’m ready to go home.” That was months ago, yet, he’s still here. Apparently, he’s still got some life to live. And he’s old. How about you?

There goes _____________.

¹John 10:10 ²Luke 2:49