Be Bold in Following Jesus

Be bold in following Jesus.  

Paul’s letter to Timothy this Sunday might make us more bold in our efforts to follow Jesus.  Paul says in chapter 1 verse 7 that “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.”  Kind of sounds like God is trying to turn us all into superheroes?  But if we think about it, maybe there’s some truth here. Maybe there are gifts within us all that slowly emerge over time that we are given to live out as part of God’s plan to save the world?

Think about your favourite Superhero.  Now think about qualities that you have that may be like them.  I think we all have superhero qualities and like superheroes we sometimes lack the courage to unleash them on the world.  If you’re like me you might be afraid of the direction your gifts might take you or even doubt that they are really there.  You might also fear what you might have to give up to use them to their full potential, or where you might have to go, what you might have to say, do, or even stand up for, that may cause you to lose a friend or two.

It can be terrifying at times to go within ourselves to find out what we are made of, but it’s necessary, according to St. Paul, if we are to follow Jesus. The question his letter to Timothy asks us indirectly this Sunday is ultimately “do we trust that Jesus will give us what we need to follow him?”  There’s a chance that he won’t give what we ask for.  Then we have to ask ourselves the question:  “am I willing to take the next step with someone who has already saved the world?”