Yesterday, a wise old man told me, "After years and years of training to be a Samurai warrior, the warrior must put down his sword and not pick it up again for five years. The mentor knows that it takes years for what's in the warrior's head to get into his heart. And when he picks up his sword again, he is balanced."

This principle of giving up to gain, dying to live, losing to win, is all over life. Moses had to live as a wandering, sheep-herding fugitive for 40 years before he was ready to lead God's people into the Promised Land. Many theologians estimate that Paul spent around 15 years of isolation before he began to preach the gospel. Jesus was murdered before he was raised. Every successful entrepreneur, warrior, missionary, or artist can look back to a time when life was so bleak, death looked more pleasant than life.

And it was in that dark moment that the most life-changing character change began. It's okay to put down the sword. It teaches us that the sword is not what matters so much, but what it represents. 

Likewise, it's not the money you make, the position you hold, the spouse you love, or the friends you have that define you. Compared to knowing Jesus and delighting in him, they are nothing (Phil 3:7-9). It's not that other things that don't matter, but when we get to that place where our relationship with Jesus matters more to us than anything, we begin to realize everything else is a pure gift, a cherry on the pie. And our response is sheer gratitude.

Posted via email from sethkniep's posterous