Skydiving, rollercoasters, motorcycle and car races all provide addicting adrenalin rushes. As soon as we finish, we’re ready for more. There’s something about taking risks that scares and excites us at the same time.
In the movie Rebel without a Cause, Jim, portrayed by James Dean, is challenged by his rival to a chickie run. Torn between Preservation and self-honor, he accepts.
Coincidentally, James Dean died young driving recklessly. He lived on the edge, taking unnecessary, impulsive risks, and it cost him his life.
Self-serving, pleasure-seeking and risky lifestyles can have a high cost. Similarly, Jesus said if we follow Him, it would cost us. So what’s the difference?
Taking risks for Jesus is jumping with a safety net over your life. There might be a cost, but Jesus can pay it for us. He covers us, reimburses us, and provides us with the means to take the plunge.
What if we lived our life on the edge, ready to defend the honor of Christ? What might that look like?
Not long ago, a friend and I were at the bus station of a downtown metropolitan city. We asked the Lord to show us people He wanted us to minister to. What seemed like endless minutes passed by before I noticed a couple of teenage girls sitting on a bench. We sat down next to them, but, being an introvert by nature, I was hesitant about beginning a conversation with them. I prayed—asking God to open a door for me. And He did. Within 10 minutes, the young girl asked me if I could watch her luggage while she and her friend stepped out for a cigarette. Upon her return, I launched out with a couple of questions about where she was heading.
That day a scared teenager received prayer and love from our Lord because I was willing and available to love, listen, discern and respond to a need.
This is one scenario and, while it didn’t cost me my life, it did cost something. Time. Money. Love. Comfort. Possible rejection. At the same time, it was exciting and fun—an adrenalin rush.
Living life on the edge could be as simple as offering spontaneous prayer to a stranger or more complex like opening up your home to a stranger. Serving is a natural outflow of Christ living in us and through us. You never know whose life you might profoundly touch unless you’re willing to take risks and live on the edge.
Consider these 4 ways to live on the edge for Christ:
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Love: Ask God to see people through His eyes.
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Listen: Be attentive to the Holy Spirit. Who is he highlighting to you? What thoughts and pictures. spontaneously light upon your mind when you are talking with the individual? Are they in line with God’s character?
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Discern: Is there a need you can meet?
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Respond: Step out in faith. Share God’s heart for that person with them. Pray with them in expectation of seeing God’s goodness demonstrated.
In closing, I leave you with these quotes to ponder: “Live as if God still shakes the world.” -Pastor Dan Morris
“He’s in us like a river. He’s not in us like a lake.” -Pastor Bill Johnson
Jesus is alive. Rely on Him and allow His life to flow through you and impact the lives of others. He has given you the gift of His Holy Spirit to empower you. If you are a believer, your mission is, as a friend of mine says, “to boldly go where Jesus has gone before.”