the way

Hello!

Recently, I got home from one of the most life-changing camps of my life. I'm going to be honest here, I went with no expectations. Now you're probably thinking, "Faith! You should always expect something out of something or else you're just gonna go without learning anything!"

Well, I thought the same thing. Thing was, I didn't quite know what to expect. I wanted to go mainly to replace the camp I'd be missing at the end of the year due to circumstances; expectations, to me, were secondary.

Maybe it was also because I didn't want to anticipate too much out of it and be let down at the end, but, eh.

Moving on from that, I came home with a treasure-trove of wisdom and life-transforming motivation. God spoke so so clearly and I was just so amazed at everything that was said. So, I thought I'd share what I got with you! Because you'll get to learn, and I'll get to relearn what I learned. Win-win.

Disclaimer: The following is all my interpretation of what was taught at camp. It contains the gist of what was said by the speaker, but a lot of it are little nuggets that I picked up throughout. If you wanna know what was really said so that you can pick stuff from your p.o.v, I suggest you travel back in time and go for camp. Oh. And bring me along, too. I'd do anything to experience it all over again. Heh. :P

Alright, here we go!

Throughout the three days we were at camp, the verse that we mainly focused on was John 14:6, 'Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."' 

Now, I know, that as Christian, one of the main things that I'm supposed to do is follow Christ. Because He is... The Way. 
And when I became a Christian, that automatically programmed me to follow His ways, His teachings and whatnot, because,

#1 The call to faith is a call to follow 
That was the first point that was shared on the first day. This ^, basically means that the moment you put your faith is Christ, that is when you begin to follow Him. Ever heard the term "follower of Christ"? Yup. Basically we're that. There were a couple things said about this that hit really hard. Like, the speaker asked this question that made me think, is my life really following Jesus?

Now, real quick, what does it mean to follow Jesus? I don't think there's a 100% correct answer for this, (if there is though, do lemme know), but from what I understand, it's basically trusting in Jesus, looking not to the world but instead going to Him. Correct me if I'm wrong. Really.

But yeah, that question really made me think, cause, yes, I trust in Jesus, I've put Him in charge of my life, but have I really put Him 100% in charge? Something to think about haha.

Here's another thing that was said: following Jesus doesn't make him a voice or opinion in your life, but makes him the voice or opinion in your life. This is really good. Sometimes it's good to rely on other people to help you, or yourself, even, but you cannot rely completely on that. Jesus has to be the deciding factor when making decisions, be it big or small.

And speaking from experience, it's hard. It's hard trusting in Something you can't see or feel, so to speak, but sometimes, just waiting on God, knowing that He's there–cause He is–is enough. Just remember to talk to Him a lot. It helps.

All in all, you don't know the future, but Jesus does. So allow Him to lead you.

#2 The way you choose determines your life's end result
I'm very very very sure all of us have made bad decisions. And we have two choices. We either continue to mess up our current situation, or we decide to back up, and make a U-turn. There's this app called Waze, and it does this thing where, if you make a wrong turn, it makes you turn around, or it finds another route for you. And it takes forever to get back on track, but in the end, we know we'll be right where we want to be.

Following Jesus doesn't have to be that way, though. Well, not all the time. We'll definitely come across some obstructions and deviations in times when our faith is a little shaky, but when we continue follow Christ and call on His name, at least we can have the reassurance that we'll be back on the right path, and that we'll be closer to our end goal.

So, question. Are your decisions taking you to your desired destination? Because we can say we want to go somewhere and yet we take all the wrong turns and go against directions. The choices we make defines how and where we end up in the future. If we go against the way of Christ, I can tell you that you that we'll be preparing ourselves for a lot of hardship and pain, all of which will be in vain. But If we do choose the way of Christ, no, we won't escape difficulties, but we have the benefit of knowing that whatever happens, Christ has got our backs, and best of all, it won't ever end in vain.

Another thing that was said that I really liked was this: We don't need a map, because Jesus is THE map. He is the way we're meant to choose. That means there really is no other way. It's either Jesus or eternal damnation. And we don't choose Jesus just so we don't go to hell, but because He went all out to save us, and His love overrides everything else! Buuuut that's a whole other post for another day.

So. Are you going to choose the way of the world, or the way of Christ?

#3 Following Jesus' way is not a piece of cake
Oh, you chose the way of Christ? Great! Now be prepared to face some of the hardest tests of your lives. No, I'm not here to scare you away. I'm here to give you a sisterly heads-up.

The way of Jesus will cost you. It could cost you anything, your friends, your family, your possessions. Why? Maybe it's cause those things are leading you away from Christ, or some other reason I don't know about. But following Jesus is hard. When you start following–really following–Him, trials will be thrown your way to test the condition, the desires of your heart. And it's all done because the moment you put your faith in Christ and start believing in Him, Jesus immediately begins a life-long project of perfecting you, making you better, developing you into something amazing.

For now, us being perfect is something that'll happen a loooooooooong way from now, so what we've gotta do is focus on staying on the straight and narrow path. It'll be tough. We'll have to say no to the desires that'll cause us to fall, we'll be that weird, holy-ish thumb that sticks out in the middle of wrong-doing, we'll get weird looks from people when we mention the name of Jesus, when we turn down alcohol, we'll be laughed at when we say no to lying, to gossiping about that "funny-looking" girl in school. We'll be despised, spat on, regarded as laughing stocks.

Okay well, maybe it went a bit extreme towards the end. Or did it?

It's hard, following Christ. But the Bible has so much to say about this.

Romans 12:2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 John 2:15-17 - Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

And you know what? You are not alone on your journey! While you are travelling the way of Jesus, following Him, He is with you, watching you, cheering you on. If you've read any of this, then you'd know the only reason you'd be following Christ is because of your faith in Him. It is that faith in Him that will push you forward, it is that faith in Him that will remind you that His perfect plan for you will carry you on, it is that faith in Him that will cause you to just trust and trust and trust.

Because God isn't gonna leave you alone on this walk. That'd be mean. But He's with you, every step of the way, ready to pick you up if, and when you fall. Christ will give you the strength to go on, every second of the way.

Because no gamer has ever played a game without running into enemies if they were going the right way. So if you encounter hardships, then good. You're on the right path. Just make sure you trust in Him, and keep relying on Him until the end. You'll be fine if you do, I promise.

ONE LAST THING! This is super important. It'll all be so so so worth it in the end! Really! Honestly! In the end, you get the spend an eternity with God as a spotless, sinless, super happy being. I'm sure in reality it's way more awesome than that, but this is the best my descriptive skills allow me to describe The End. But just hold on, keep fighting, keep running the race, and keep keeping the faith. God is by your side. He's like your ultimate cheerleader right now.

You can do this.

xx.