What does it look like? I think many people live out their Christian experience with a lockdown mindset, an I can’t do mindset, yet we are all placed and known in God.

In Jeremiah 1:5 we read,

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born, I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Isa 49:16 See , I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

There is no one outside of Gods hand and heart, and every person has been called and sits in the context of His nail scared hands.

It’s not that He hasn’t done enough, but what we haven’t received, perhaps we have acknowledged His call and have seen it from a distance but the uncertainty of stepping into it is a bit daunting and overwhelming, even a fantasy.

But Jeremiah 29:11 says he has a plan and purpose, so if we are up to it, let’s say “OK!”

So, where to from here and how do I position myself? Because it’s not about the end but the beginning.

Let me use an analogy from my yesterday.

In cycling there is an art in knowing how to position yourself for the race and that last kilometre, when you can see the crowd, the end is in sight but only one can win. Do I come from the back? Then how far back, too far is too much! Do I lead from the front? Then those in my draught will easily come around me.

So, here’s the question: How am I positioning myself?

Placement is critical, if you rest on the back too much you will miss the breaks, and miss the opportunity to finish well, if you stay on the front you’ll burn yourself out, to understand the importance of sheltering and working with others will enable you to finish well and that’s the importance of the body of Christ.

1Co 12:12 “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”   

So, as we come out of lockdown let’s assess our before and after and ask ourselves the question, have I had a lockdown attitude towards the gifts and calling of God? Have I been at the back for too long? Come into the shelter of the middle of the group and begin to take that place of responsibility lift your eyes and see that you are important as a participant and not an observer as we step into what Jesus has in mind for us.