Power of Hurdles

Key Scripture:  “I am come that they might have life and might have it more abundantly…I am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me.” John 10:10,14

Power Point:

Yesterday in my minds eye I could see a vision of a meadow full of grass with white hurdles all over it.  There were several white sheep jumping the hurdles and having a blast. They were happy as though they were playing a game.  There was one black sheep. He is standing in front of a hurdle but he is afraid to jump over.  Finally he is drawn in by how much fun the white sheep are having and he jumps. He is so excited and his feet have barely touched the ground when the Good Shepherd comes to him, smiling as He puts a big red ribbon around his neck. The ribbon has a blue ribbon attached to it. He has passed the test. He got an A+.

There are always hurdles in our lives aren’t there?   I think I would say that one of my biggest hurdles in my Christian walk was learning to jump the hurdle of walking in Love.  I would stand in front of the hurdle of “always expecting the best”, or “forgiveness’, or “loving without conditions” and just refuse to jump.  Finally as I stood there, I realized that all the other sheep are having a great time. The meadow of our lives is full of hurdles-a great picture of our life with Christ and the opportunities (tests) He offers us to be transformed from black to white. Sometimes after I make the decision to jump I have trouble getting over that hurdle by myself and the Shepherd comes and pushes the rest of me over. Once I have passed that test, there are more to come but the freedom and joy that comes from having made it over are worth it all.

Everything Jesus tells us to do can be a hurdle can’t it? It can be difficult or out of our comfort zone, or the direct opposite of what our flesh wants to do. Yet He has a reason for encouraging us over the particular hurdle of Love. It’s the foundation for everything good in the kingdom. Until we learn to love as He loves, we’ll never understand how much we are loved. Until we understand that, we can’t love others as He does and we can’t bring heaven to earth.

Offense can be a hurdle to Love. Unforgiveness can be a hurdle. Pride can be a hurdle.

I hope that if you have a particular hurdle that seems too tall to jump over, you’ll ask the Good Shepherd to give you a boost today. The good news is that He loves the black sheep as much as He loves the white sheep. It’s okay if you’ve taken some time to jump over He’ll still be there when you do and give you that wonderful smile of His and welcome you to join the rest of the flock. Oh, and you'll get an A+!

Power Thought:

Everybody faces hurdles in life. You just need to jump over them.