Embody

I enjoy rollerblading. And I enjoy getting made fun of for enjoying rollerblading. So do your worst. I'm not that good at it, but I'm trying to get better.

There's a strange disconnect in me when it comes to rollerblading. I watch so many YouTube videos on how to rollerblade better. And every time I watch one, I strap on my rollerblades with 110% confidence that I can do it. If you ever want to see me fall hard, the five minutes after watching rollerblading videos is the prime time to do so. If I fall, it must be because I didn't watch enough YouTube or I didn't have the right wheels or the right socks or the right surface.

That same disconnect happens in many areas of my life, perhaps most often in the way I live out my faith. I walk out of the Soul Room with 110% confidence that I can do it. If you want to see me fall hard, find me in the five minutes after reading the Bible. My expectation is that reading good truths about Jesus or thinking good thoughts about the Gospel is enough for me to live it out. But the disconnect remains. I feel like the Apostle Paul, "Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

After years of watching this happen, it's easy to give up, to move towards apathy, or to think some secret knowledge can help us escape this fleshy prison. How can the truth of the Gospel go from my heart to my hands? How can I not only know the love of Jesus but embody it? May Scripture be our guide on this as we consider the word "embody" from our Lexicon this Sunday morning.