What It Means To Be A Torchbearer

The other morning I woke up and God really challenged me with a thought.  Do I wake up each and every morning and aimlessly try to follow Jesus?  Am I throwing darts at a target but don't know where the target is?  I have been pondering and praying recently and after talking with Don we both know that we need to start writing and blogging more.

I went back to one of the first challenges Don ever gave me.  To come up with a Biblical name.  My name is "Torchbearer of Christ."  This name should encompass a personal mission for the glory of God.  I like the name but I never really put a lot of time or effort into daily living that out.  So now it is time to start.

A Torchbearer is one who leads or inspires others in working hard toward a valued goal.  In this case Christ is the goal, his glory, his kingdom, and deeper intimacy with our Savior is what we must work hard for.  As a torchbearer I must lead by example, encourage others, and press on toward the goal in spite of opposition (which is sure to come!).

With that being said I would like to invite you along this journey with me.  My goal is to blog a minimum of 3 days a week.  In blogging I want to help inspire you toward Christ and his kingdom.  I will be reading through the Bible this year so many of my thoughts may come from that.  I pray that you would take some time to develop a personal mission statement, to create a Biblical name, and live that out daily for the glory of God.

Watching the World Wake Up

Recently we were visiting some friends from Church and as we were talking deer hunting naturally came up. Besides all the male macho hunting talk was the idea of watching the world wake up. Sitting in a deer stand early in the morning you hear the calm and quiet of a sleeping world. Slowly you see the sun start to rise, light begins to shine, and living things are alive. It is in moments like this when I feel like I have God all to myself (in reality God finally has all my attention). When the world is sleeping my God is awake and desiring to spend time with me. In times like this my faith is strengthened, my heart is encouraged, and my desire for the things of God grows. The world throws many distractions our way to keep us from God, to make us ineffective and unproductive. I believe the still and quiet of the morning provide us an amazing opportunity to have time with God. As it says in Psalm 5:3,

"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation."

You don't have to be a deer hunter (I am not one) to enjoy time with God in the morning. Living in a house with 8 people it is very hard to have quiet time so I usually need to get up an hour before everyone else. Sometimes I go on early morning walks with my ipod and listen to worship music. When it is warm outside I may just go sit on the porch and pray. It will look different for everyone. Watching the world wake up is an interesting thing. It tends to calm you down, it helps you start you day off right, and for me it draws me closer to my Savior Jesus Christ.