The Winter Soldier

Last night my wife and I saw an extended preview of the upcoming Captain America movie, The Winter Soldier, on TV.  What immediately caught my attention was that it seemed to be non-stop action!  There were superheroes and villains running, jumping and flying all over the place!  Cars were speeding around, bullets were spraying everywhere, helicopters flying in and out, plenty of stylized hand to hand combat and lots of dramatic explosions!  And even though it was just a convoluted preview, I found myself instantly drawn into the action!

Today as I continued to study John 8:31-32, I also found myself being drawn into the action that Jesus was telling the Pharisees about!  What caught my attention this morning was that these verses are jam-packed with action sequences.  Here Jesus is telling those who would listen to Him that “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (KJV)

It would seem that the Master was trying to make a clearly defined point in His statement as all of the key words that He said were verbs.  And as we know, verbs are words that convey action.  The terms “continue,” “know,” “make” and “free” all demand that an action be taken on the part of the recipient.  In the original Greek, the word “continue” is what was known as a “constative active first aorist” which defines “an action in its entirety.”   (http://ezraproject.com/id34.html)  It is a complete and continuous action that Adam Clarke says “we must retain and walk in.”  The Cambridge Bible commented “that it becomes the permanent condition of your life.”

It looks to me that Jesus is telling us that in order for our Christianity to be effective in our lives as well as make a difference in the lives of those in whom we touch, then we must continually be in action!  Our faith is not something that we are just to read and talk about, but is a tangible action that we must pursue in every area of our lives!  I was kind of brought up in a family where one’s faith was a very personal thing and was kept separate from your public life.  When I met my wife, that belief system was quickly put to the test and rapidly abandoned! 

We made the decision early on to the take the plunge into the deep waters of what we believe and have never surfaced.  At various times throughout the years it has endeared us to some while ostracizing us from others.  Through the journey we have taken with my wife’s health, it has clearly separated us from some that we thought were very close to us.  But you know, there’s no turning back now!  Jesus said that if we were to continue in Him, then we would actively, increasingly and intimately know more and more of His truth… and I believe that we are in the midst of seeing that truth in our active stand for and with Him.

I guess that I’ve always been one who would choose action over being sedimentary.  How about you?  Are you choosing to live it, experience it, continually grow in it and increasingly intimately know His truth…  Or are you satisfied to simply watch the action on the big screen?  Have a super day today.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Who’s ACTION am I expecting today?”