The path of least resistance

 People often comment on my enthusiasm.  "You're so full of energy!" they tell me.  "You've got such big things coming in your life....you're going to do so much for God's kingdom!"  But so often, the image that I get of myself is not that of a mighty warrior, but rather a caged gerbil.  Sure, I've got lots of energy - especially in the morning (I'm the bubbly morning person that you always wanted to strangle in your 8 am college classes :]).  But energy does not equate with productivity.  It is not synonymous with might.  And something I wonder if I focus my energy on the wrong things.  Do we ever hide behind the familiar checklists of "spirituality" to avoid having to do the hard things, like ministering to the poor and giving of ourselves?  Don't settle into the path of least resistance - we were made to forge new paths.

Path of Least ResistanceBy Bo Bandy

 Take the shortcut; no hurdles straight ahead.

Go with the flow downstream, don't fight the current.

Follow the wood's grain; tear apart neatly at the seam.

With a trampled road to traverse on, why would anyone beat a new path?

Because the well-traveled road soon ends

But the self-paved road will last.

Luke 18:18-23

¹⁸ A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

   ¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
 ²¹ “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
 ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
 ²³ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. ²⁴ Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”