I give up my right to...

We just got out of a session given by Sam Dick... titled 'Relinquishing Your Rights'! I felt that he had everything put together so well and that he was well prepared. He really has a way of speaking to the hearts of young youth no matter how cold and how hard you try not to get touched, he works his way into your heart.
His opening passage was John 12:24-25 "Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal."
Then we opened up and started to study the story of Defining "Neighbor" in Luke 10:25-37. We listed each character in the the story and listed things that we seen in them or just thought may have been said in between the lines.
We started with the priest. He was probably dressed very nicely and when he saw the beat-up, half dead man on the side of the road... the first thoughts that ran through this head were that he didn't want to get dirty. And that he was probably on a tight schedule and didn't think he had time to stop and help this man in need and risk the chance of being late for whatever it was he was going to. How often are we like that? Such in a hurry that we forget there are others in this world that need our help and us just to be there for them.
Next we moved onto the Levite. How his major job in the temple is to serve. To sweep floors, do things people would love to do just to get that access, and just to kind of be behind the scenes. But was he the serving type in this story? He also was probably in a hurry and didn't think he had time to stop, even though serving and doing good is in his job description. Do we do that? Say we are willing to do mission work but when someone needs help in our hometown, do we pass them by and not consider that mission work?
And last we listed the Samaritan. Everyone knows that Samaritans aren't supposed to talk to a Jew let alone HELP a Jew. But he didn't care. He was willing to set that aside and help this fellow brother in need. He probably had things to do but he chose to stop, to help and to put his faith in practice.
After we got done with that topic we moved on to our own lives and things we need to give up. Some of the things that was mentioned touched me in a special place. He strongly touched on how what we have, everything we have, is not ours. It's all God's. Every bit of it. He has just in trusted it to us while we walk on this earth. So why are we so stingy about giving things to the poor and being stubborn about things we love and seem to hold onto the most? None of it is ours to hold anyway.
One thing he said that hit home pretty hard was that the time right now, the time here in Abbortsford BC is not my time. It is all God's and that he gives and takes away anything and everything. So why do I worry about whats going to happen, what's going on at home in Indiana, and what I'm going to do when I get home. Why worry? He already knows and I don't need to worry and waste my life wondering. This TREK program is not only for this 6 months of my life, this IS my life and this will effect so much more in my life ahead. This is part of God's big plan for my life.
Friends are gifts from the Lord himself to help us along the path of the unknown and to stand by our sides no matter what. So treat your friends like they are GOLD!! One day you will need someone when everyone leaves you, those are the people you treat like gold. Life is to short to live in a conflict. Straighten everything out and lay your friendships all down to our Father. Because the gift of friendship is supposed to be cherished:)
We got the chance to lay things up and say to God, I give up my right to...! You finished the sentence. Some gave up money, some relationships, and even some gave up the right to life and death. I gave up the right to time. Every minute here in TREK is a moment I will never get a chance to have again. I need to stop saying 'I cant wait till this', or 'I cant wait to do this' and just live every moment like it is my last. Life is to short to waste away with things that dont really matter like time, conflicts, and or pointless little mishaps. And until I get home home ( Heaven )... I'm going to be a no-mad for Jesus!!
So don't waste your life away. Live THIS moment:) Live THIS moment for God and him alone.