I had been thinking about this a lot before school ended, and now that it has I realize that it may be one of the most important things that I've learned this semester.
This semester has been really rough for a lot of people. I've let it be known on this blog and if you've talked to me in person, I don't think anyone has really escaped from the fall of '09 the same. The one thing that I see from people that have come out of this is a lack of excitement for something in the future. I realized that excitement for something is vitally important to people everywhere, and here is why.
1. Excitement breeds more excitement. the whole idea of being excited about something is that you are actively thinking and happy about something that will happen. this seems to permeate into one's way of living. some of my favorite people to be around are excited with whats going on around them, but also for the future.
2. it gives hope. What hope do we have if not for the future? I remember the movie what about Bob?, where the son talks about death being the only future that any of us have. what kind of mindset and future does that give? with the ability to hold on to a singular thing in the future, and know that its coming gives us hope for things that haven't yet happened.
3. it brings us back to Christ. wait, did I just tie this back into Christianity? yes, yes I did. I did because hope is the key element of being a christian. what would it mean to be a christian if we weren't excited about what God is doing here? about what he's going to do inside of me, inside of you, inside of all the people in all the world. Knowing that God has a grand plan is the most exciting thing of all.
so get excited about something. choose something in the future and hold onto it. share your excitement with others, tell those you work with, those you go to school with, let them join in on your joy. trust me, no one would turn down an opportunity to join in with your joy.
~Josh
Comments (3)
I love this a lot. And something I am excited about is something you just showed me without knowing it-- my blog for France is going to be xanga.. but posted on facebook, like you just did. I totally didn't know that was possible. This is something I greatly look forward to because my xanga days were my favorite writing days, and I love to write. This is not a very big decision, but it's been on my mind for many days and I am genuinely excited about it now. So... way to go, Josh!
Bingo!
Chirstians should be optimists! We have the best hope for the future as anyone on earth. (Both eternal future, and earthly future.)
I don't always "feel" it these days, but I'm working hard to remember that with God the future is bright.
Jon
Thank you for such an uplifting message. It is always so easy to just look and your own life and complain about the things happening.
Instead, we should keeep our eyes on Jesus, and thank him for everything in our life. Both the trials and the triumphs.