Dee's Alaska Adventures

Well, we are at Shelly and Philips's house with my three adorable grand kids. If you don't know Shelly is one of our 8 kids. They let us sleep in their bedroom on their nice bed and they moved into their office room and slept on the floor. Somebody raised them well. I have slept well on the trip on the ground with the sleeping pad, but I really slept well last night on a nice bed. Whooooeeeeeeeee, I guess I was just born for comfort. Speaking of comfort, I have been thinking a lot about comfort in the last two weeks. In Matthew 7:13 Jesus talks about a wide gate and a narrow gate. He says "many" choose the wide gate, but "few" choose the narrow gate. The question in meditating on the passage is why many choose the wide gate. And I think the answer is that it is easy and comfortable, nice. Why would few choose the narrow way?, and I think it is because it is hard and difficult. I don't think Jesus is teaching us how to get to heaven in this passage because it is about effort and sacrifice. Heaven is free. I believe the result of the choosing is our level of growth in righteousness and the fruit that we would bear with our life. Jesus said that the narrow way led to "life". I want "life", more righteousness and fruit for God's glory. But the obvious fact as I think about me is that I automatically choose during the course of a day the easy way. It really isn't that big of a deal when we are talking about sleeping on the ground as apposed to sleeping in a nice bed, but that same tendency carries over into our spiritual life. We choose not to read our Bibles because it is easier not to, we choose not to pray because it is easier not to. we choose not to serve because it is easier not to, we choose not to give because it is easier not to. If someone would ask me what my "life verses" are I would quote for them 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way , as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that , after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."  I believe that I can train myself to be less inclined to "easy" and more inclined to "hard" spiritually by disciplining my physical body or training my physical body by choosing to do things that are a challenge, things that are hard, even things that will possibly hurt or are risky. Because our flesh will pull so hard in the "easy" direction I must program or plan or set goals to regularly "discipline or buffet my body". I would rather not, but if I really want to grow and produce it really does help. Train myself. I need to keep at it until I get to heaven. 
All my aches and pains are much better today so I am going to go out for a run today and see how all the joints feel. Shelly has registered me for the "Midnight Run" here on Saturday. A 10K, 6.2 mile run, so I am going to run that with her. I will try to finish not to far behind her, and not fall down to many times, at least not in front of anyone with a camera. By the way, I lost 9 lbs on the trip so I am feeling good about that. The first words out of Shelly's mouth when I got out of the car yesterday were, "you are sure looking skinny". What a good daughter!