Staying the Journey Because of One

For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and holds us tightly, because we are convinced that he has given his life for all of us. This means all died with him, so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for him—the one who died for us and now lives again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 TPT

What keeps you on your journey? If you ask Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders, it is to reclaim the age record as the oldest person to thru-hike the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail (AT). He captured the title in 2017 at 82, but his life-long friend and fellow hiker MJ “Nimblewill Nomad” Elbert took it from him in 2021 at age 83. The 90-year-old Sanders from Memphis, TN, determined not to be out-aged by his friend, set out on September 6 this year to reclaim the title. If you are unfamiliar with the AT, it starts at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine (or vice versa, depending on which direction you are going), passing through 14 states. It is designated the world’s longest hiking-only trail.

Grey Beard still holds the Guinness World Record for paddling 2,400 miles from the Mississippi’s source in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico (America) at age 87. When asked why the age record motivates him so much, he answered, “I like to break records.” Sanders wants to inspire people to live better, healthier, longer lives. “I’ve always cared about people, and I do this because I still care about people.” (Info from article by Arnold “Bloodhound” Guzman, Appal. Trail website)

We all have something or someone that keeps us on our journey. You may not have plans for thru-hiking the AT, but if you are living, you have something or someone who keeps you on your journey. Connie and I had the blessing of being at Bud Fray’s memorial service last Sunday. Dr. Marion “Bud” Fray served, along with his family, in Zimbabwe and South Africa, then as a professor at Ouachita Baptist University and Southwestern Seminary, and finally retired from a local church ministry.

Why mention Bud? Some of you will know him, others not, but Bud lived out his passion and commitment to Jesus to the very end. In his biography, Both Feet In, he wrote, “How could I claim salvation without absolute abandonment to Jesus as Lord? My Jesus would not share His heart with anything half-hearted or with geographical restrictions. I yielded all to Jesus that morning, the best I knew how. The light of the Lord invaded my heart and captured me utterly.”

It was out of that initial commitment that Bud would live his 97 years, never wavering or with second thoughts. “I realized that my purpose in life was to be like Him no matter where I lived or what I did. It was He, not I, who was working all things together for the purpose of me being like Jesus.”

Bud would live out a totally surrendered life as a missionary in Africa, a university and seminary professor, and foremost as a prayer warrior who loved Jesus with Both Feet In. He would have fully understood the sentiment of Anglican theologian Richard Sibbes, who wrote roughly 400 years before Bud, “The love of Christ and the love of the world cannot lodge together in one heart.”

We need to hear the stories of those who have faithfully stayed on the journey with the One who made the difference in their lives. This journey we are on is not always easy, which makes the stories of others encouraging for us.

When Watchman Nee said yes to Jesus’ invitation to follow him, even though he could have chosen a comfortable life, he never wavered in his passion and commitment to Jesus. “Outside Christ I am empty; in Christ I am full.” Watchman Nee lived out these words, thus becoming a target of the Chinese Communist authorities, resulting in his imprisonment in 1952 until he died in 1972 at age 68 for his refusal to renounce his faith.

A piece of paper was found under his pillow in prison by his grandniece, inscribed with his final words to the world, “Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and was resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ.”

British pastor Pete Greig remarked about Watchman Nee’s faith, “His teaching, forged in the furnace of marginalization, persecution and war, was always challenging, particularly for those in the West whose faith had become comfortable and complacent.”

God’s church did/has/will prevail! It is made up of flawed heroes of faith, from well-known celebrities to unknown, ordinary believers, yet each trusting in the One on the journey with them. Jesus laid the rock-solid foundation, and though imperfect saints have often messed up, they never stopped the church from moving forward. Watchman Nee wrote in The Secret of Christian Living that “God’s way of salvation is in Christ, not in your own self. Patience is in Christ, humility is in Christ, holiness is in Christ. All is in Christ. In you, yourself, there is always uncleanness and unholiness. If you live in Christ, you have everything. But if you live in yourself, you remain unchanged.”

Mrs. Gambiza’s story is told in Bud’s book, where she resisted cultural expectations to remain committed to her faith. When she was asked why she did not capitulate when her brother-in-law persecuted her and mocked her faith, she replied, “Pastor, my heart would not let me. Jesus living in my heart makes the decision for me. He is my King.”

Keep on traveling this journey because you have One who never gives up on you. “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” Eph 1:18 NLT

God is great!