Lay down your life for one another......

Have you ever met someone that in their own journey to maturity in Christ, has learned the secret of setting aside their own need for control, approval, security and power?  Jesus was this kind of man.  He was the most principled person that ever walked the earth.  He knew the law and revered it, but He also knew that there are limitations to all the boundaries and rules we cling to, and so He healed on the Sabbath and ate with sinners and tax collectors.  In the life of Jesus, we see that one of the real tasks of our lives is knowing when to go beyond "normal" boundaries, for the sake of another.  There is a cost to doing this and Jesus seemed to be willing to pay it.....He did not count His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped (Phil. 2:6) but was willing to set aside the protective walls of His "self."  He was the most vulnerable and open person I know, and I think that enabled Him to live more sacrificially for others.  Every once in a while, we are presented in matters both big and small, with opportunities to lay down our lives for one another where we really live and where it really counts. As we travel to Africa on the Wheels for the World trip, I do not know what challenges we will face, but I do know that we will be presented with opportunities where it will be wrong for us to cling to "normal" boundaries.  I hope that like Christ, I will be willing to relinquish my ego and serve in a sacrificial way.  Unlike Christ, "laying down my life for another" will not require me to hang on a cross, but it will demand of me a willingness to loosen my grip on what I treasure most.  Come, Holy Spirit, Come.