Tip Top Condition

As many of you know, one of my favorite recreational activities is hiking.  Some of my most enjoyable memories, both as a child and an adult, are hiking through the towering Redwood forests throughout the five northern California coastal counties from just above San Francisco to the Oregon border.  But as far as breath-taking views go, I would have to say that the trails that my wife and I discovered, and later with our four kids in tow, within Sierra and Plumas counties in the northeastern Sierras… were even more spectacular!

The terrain of the Sierra Nevada’s is not as thickly forested as in the Redwood groves and intermittently open up to ah-inspiring vistas of a seemingly endless views of distant mountain tops, meadows, ice cold creeks, waterfalls, sharp and steep cliffs and picture-perfect thunder-cloud formations that you feel that you can reach out and touch with your extended arms!

I have found that I cannot hike a Sierra trail without a smile on my face and a CHEERUL expectancy of the discovery of the outstanding views that I might encounter around the next bend or at the top of the next highpoint of the trail that we will crest.  And as I thought about all this on Fiver’s and my morning walks over the last few days, I realized that in many respects, that same CHERRFUL expectancy of discovery is the same way in which I approach and enjoy my faith!

It didn’t take much thought to see how much I enjoy my daily “Coffee Time” in the Word first thing every morning.  That time set aside in the quiet still of the morning has been a part of my regular routine of my adult life for as long as I can remember… long before Piper got sick and while the children were growing up.

The settings may have changed over the years, different houses, different cities in different states, or sitting at a camp table under the canopy of Redwoods, Pines or even the Oaks out here along Fort Gibson Lake in the Sequoyah State Park campgrounds… the CHEERFUL expectancy of deeper discoveries in the revelation of the truth of God’s Word fills my heart as I sit down with an open Bible, note pad and steaming hot cup of coffee! 

Now that my friends… is a very integral part of a happy life lived in a state of CHEERFUL expectancy of what one might observe and learn around the next turn along the trails of their life.

After living a full life that also came with persistent persecutions, the Apostle Paul happily and proudly wrote to the Christians in Rome declaring that,

“For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL of Christ: for it is the POWER of God unto SALVATION to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For THEREIN is the RIGHTOUSNESS of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall LIVE by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17 – KJV) 

In this foundational portion of Scripture, Paul is explaining what the Gospel is, what It teaches us and once knowing and growing in the regular discovery of that revelation, how we as Believers should live and experience It our daily lives!

The original Greek definition of the word “LIVE” describes a LIFE that is “fresh, strong, efficient and efficacious (efficacious meaning “to be successful in producing a desired or intended result*) and/or “to live a life that is alive with CHEERED and highly expectant feelings.” (Thayer’s and Mounce Greek Definitions)

And you know… that original definition which describes the way we should live our lives, makes a whole bunch of sense… especially when you also understand that the word “Gospel” simply means “glad tidings or good, joyful or CHEERFUL news!”**  When one regularly keeps an eye on and studies the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ… you can’t help but be CHEERFUL!

Listening to and doing what the Good News tells you not only fills you with a CHEERFUL countenance, but also works to keep you healthy and in TIP TOP condition… physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and even financially… WHY?  Because it keeps you focused and in tune to God’s ways, God’s thoughts and alert to His steps of righteousness, thereby helping us to make good and strategic decisions!

Proverbs 17:22 informs us that,

“A cheerful disposition is good for your health; (but) gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.” (MSG) 

Another translation of this verse describes the effect of a heart that is not CHEERFUL saying,

“one whose heart is crushed (ie; one whose heart has placed an idol before God) struggles with sickness and depression.” (TPT)  

I like to pull up to the filling station first thing every morning because I depend on and enjoy the CHEERFUL disposition of heart that meets and builds my expectation and satisfies the hunger and thirst of my life!  I couldn’t imagine a day without it…

How About You?

Have a great week as you expectantly hike the CHEERFUL trails of deeper DISCOVERY, in the righteousness of God and His Word for your life!

 

*Oxford Online Dictionaries

** Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary