Fearless Living

Fearless has been a word on my mind lately.  I used to be very afraid to speak in public.  Oral presentations in high school were the bane of my existence.  I hated talking in front of people because I was so afraid of what people thought of me.  Now, I get in front of people and talk almost everyday of the week.  It's amazing what God can do in a person's life. 
However, I would not say that I'm fearless.  I still have fears about what people think of me.  When I first came to the church I'm a pastor of now, I was afraid of upsetting anyone or doing anything wrong.  So, lately fearless has been at the forefront of my mind.  I have been praying for boldness and courage lately because I have looked at my everyday routine and wondered to myself, "Is this what living for the kingdom looks like?" 
Biographies have captured my attention lately.  I have read one on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and am currently reading one on William Wilberforce, the man who took a stand against slavery in Britain in the late 1700s.  It is amazing the courage these men had in the face of dire circumstances.  Also, I have been thinking about the life of Paul as well.  This was a man who faced the most extreme circumstances, but kept going till the end of his life, spreading the message of the kingdom of God wherever God took him.  These are the kind of men I aspire to be.  I aspire to be a man who is fearless in spreading the Gospel.  I also want to fearlessly live the great adventure of following Jesus.  I don't want to be satisfied with a normal existence.  I don't want to be satisfied with a life that is lived good enough.  I want to live a life that is full of days ( a phrase used to describe Job at the end of the book of Job).  I want to live a life that is fearless not in the sense of doing daring deeds, but in the sense of boldly, passionately, and fearlessly spreading the story of the King I love and live for.  I want to live the words of Paul when he said "I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew then for the Gentile" (Romans 1:16).  In the words of Casting Crowns, "We were made to be courageous."  The world needs courageous people who are not afraid to share the message of hope.  Families need courageous men who are not afraid to be the husbands and fathers their wives and children need them to be.  Families need courageous women who will not be afraid to stand against the women's liberation movement and be the wives and mothers their husbands and children so desperately need. Churches need courageous leaders who are not afraid to speak the truth in love, never compromising for the sake of worldly acceptance.  Teenagers need courageous peers who will not be afraid to stand out from the crowd and be different for the sake of holiness.  Lord, make us courageous!