Korean War Vet

For those of you who know where Griffith Cycle is, you might imagine that we get some interesting characters that walk by. We are within walking distance of CSL Plasma, and in a rough neighborhood. 

This guy used to walk by every day about ten years ago. His wrinkles showed old age. He wore an old military jacket with patches on it and walked with a long walking stick. He was very thin and short with a gray scraggly beard. Through talking with him, I found out that he had served in Korea. Every day he walked by and always said the same thing. "Life is like riding a bicycle. If you want to keep your balance, you gotta keep-a-movin'!" It wasn't original with him, and he didn't seem exactly balanced himself, but it did make me think. 

As a proverb for life, when you stand still, you lose balance. For me, work piles up. I can tend to get discouraged when working on a big project thinking "I am never going to get done," but Dory told me to "just keep swimming." Everything that you want to maintain and every goal you want to accomplish, whether it be your job, your house, or even relationships, requires continuous effort. Sometimes we run into discouraging situations that we have to "keep-a-movin'" through. 

In Haggai, the Jews were at a crossroads where physical labor and faith met. They were rebuilding the Temple under the Persian king, Darius. There were wars going on and people discouraging from within and without. The 7th month arrived in Chapter 2. This was a busy religious month for them; the Feast of Tabernacles and the Day of Atonement were in this month on top of the monthly New Moon Festival and the Sabbaths. These holidays should take place in the Temple that wasn't built yet. You have to imagine that the Israelites were discouraged as they stood among a pile of rubble that was never going to be the great Temple it once was, or so they thought. 

Haggai offers them an oracle from God that is summed up as "Be Strong" and "Do not fear." These are words that David told Solomon when building the first Temple (1 Chronicles 28:10,20). It reminded them where they came from and that there was something to look forward to. It encouraged them to "keep-a-movin'," and they did. In Ezra 3, we learn that they came up with a solution for this lack-of-temple problem. They built the altar first, before they had even laid the foundation. They built what they needed to celebrate the feasts and kept moving.

James tells us that faith without works is dead, and that is certainly true. If our faith doesn't move us to DO anything, it is already dead; or if our faith DOES move us to do things and we stand still, it will die soon. We have a job to do.  Life is hard, and Jesus promised that a Christian walk wouldn't be easy, but he also gave us his word and the church so that we can encourage one another to "be strong," "do not fear," and "keep-a-movin'." 

 Philippians 1:6 - "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ."