I admit it: I haven’t always been authentic. Sometimes, we do things that we wouldn’t normally do in order to impress another individual. It’s not so much a matter of being phoney. There have been times I wanted to do something ‘adventurous’ that wasn’t really in my nature. I’ve wanted to be more uninhibited like people I’ve admired. In few cases, it’s paid off. In other cases, it’s just been ... well ... not very bright. Either way difficult lessons were gleaned from the experiences, some very costly.
In my mid-twenties my husband invited me to go portaging in Algonquin Park. Algonquin Park is a provincial park in Ontario, almost 3000 square miles afforded for enthusiasts of camping, canoeing, backpacking, fishing, you name it. I’ve always been a city girl. My ‘open-mindedness,’ (pride), was challenged, or perhaps manipulated, but I took the bait.
When we weren’t canoeing our way down the river, we walked incredible terrain, and carried our canoe, tent, and a 3 day supply of food. The idea is, you travel in one direction for a day and a half and then travel back the same way – if you can read a topographical map. Have I ever mentioned that I’m a city girl?
There we were, just before dusk, on a piece of dirt and rock in the middle of nowhere – all we could hear was the echo of our own voices while pitching a tent in the pouring rain. As I hammered the last peg into the mud, I looked up and saw my husband climbing the tree with our back packs. “Ah, what are you doing, DEAR?” He smiled and then chuckled, “Taking out a little insurance policy.” After he tied our food on a branch, about 20 feet in the air, and carefully shimmied down the tree, he told me, the insurance policy was “just in case a bear comes looking for food while we’re asleep” ... yes – in our teeny, little canvas tent. Gee, why didn’t this subject get tabled before? I needed more than an insurance policy, I wanted an assurance policy. I wanted a guarantee not only that no bear could smell our food but that they all decided to go south for the summer or something. Obviously, I made it out of that situation alive.
Before giving my heart to Jesus, there were countless situations I found myself in where I had taken out little insurance policies along the way, often to find that I failed to read the small print. Few of them ever paid off.
If only I had then the policy that I have now. Since I’ve surrendered my life to Him, since I’ve come to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, I find that His Living Word is not a simple ‘insurance’ policy, it’s an assurance policy. The psalmist, David, had occasions where he found himself walking through treacherous terrain, where thieves would hide out in the mountains, like bears, waiting to devour their prey. In Psalm 121:1-5 David wrote, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth...He who keeps you will not slumber...He is your keeper.”
Relying on the genius of others and my own strength has been costly to say the least. When I count the cost of following Christ, the eternal benefits and dividends of the Assurance Policy by far outweigh any sacrifices I have ever made. He is my Provider, my Keeper, and my very present Help in times of need. Oh sure, you may think, there’s fine print in every policy. Indeed, “Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself,” Luke 10:27. Some things we were not meant to live, or die, without.
If you’re not covered, scroll down the sidebar to the “Ready” button and click. A perfect policy awaits you, coverage never ceases. Its benefits can be passed on to your loved ones, but the greatest thing is that you too will reap the rewards when you leave this life.
Are you ready?
