Outside the Walls: Life’s a Trip

College spring break! I looked forward to a week of no studying, going to the beach with friends, and having fun. As we led up to spring break, my friends in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes would begin talking about going on a mission trip and start urging me to go.

“It will change your life. You really need to go,” they would say.

I would think to myself: “I kind of like my life the way it is. I don’t want to change it. Besides, who wants to work on spring break?”

I had great excuses and avoided the conversation at all costs. Finally, my senior year I decided to give it a shot. It was a week I would never forget. We headed to the mountains of Kentucky. We served poor families, played with children, and looked for ways for God to use us. Our worship services were more than a song and a poem every night. We were celebrating what God was doing through us.

We went back to school energized, and everyone couldn’t wait for the next mission trip. However, it didn’t take long for things to get back to normal.

Why can’t life be a trip? Why don’t we live each day expecting God to use us and look for ways to bless people?

When I think of the Abrahamic covenant, I always remember the fact that God said He would make Abraham into a great nation, God’s chosen people would be His descendants, and that He would reveal Himself to the world through them.

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great … and you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).

God wanted His people to be a blessing to the world. God’s people in the Old Testament were guilty of withdrawing and resting in their salvation the same way the church huddles together inside its walls while the world outside is falling apart. God wants His people to be engaged in a broken world and to be a blessing.

So here is a dare for you in 2016. I dare you to pray this prayer every day and see what happens:

“God, show me someone I can bless today.”

Who knows what He will lead you to do? I can promise you that life won’t be boring, and it will give you stories to tell. People will want to know why, and they’ll open the door for Gospel conversations.

Life’s a trip. Live it!

— If you struggle with sharing Jesus with someone close to you, consider reading “Close Encounters” by Lee Clamp, available at CourierPublishing.com.