Jul62025
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When God Sends Us, We Go.

When I was 52 years old, I was accepted into a doctoral program. At the age of 54, I learned to read German. At the age of 62, I ran my first marathon, and at 64, I published my first book. Why all this ambition and productivity? Because we have one shot at life, and I want to make the most of it. God does not want to look down and see a bunch of sad sacks. Nothing pleases God more than seeing us fulfilled and happy. That is what you have with the disciples who were sent out. They were productive and returned very happy.

Let me ask you, what happens when we fail? We are replaced. The reason we are replaced is that there is always someone better than us. There is always someone who is more educated, younger, more energetic, more qualified, more competent. When Peter failed the Lord the night he was arrested in the garden, we all thought that Peter would be replaced. That is because there are a lot of people in the synagogue and in the temple who are more qualified than Peter, more faithful, and more trusting than Peter. Yet the first thing that Jesus said after his resurrection to the women was, “Tell Peter, go to Peter.” When Jesus met with Peter, he had him cast the net out of the boat, and he caught 153 large fish. Then he had breakfast with him, instructed him, and made him the first Pope. He gave Peter what he needed to be productive and successful.

I volunteered to give out t-shirts at a 5K event at the Commons. Just before I got to the volunteers’ tent, I asked myself, “Why did I agree to do this?” When I arrived, they gave me a warm welcome of gratitude, gave me a t-shirt, and sent me to another tent protected from the sun and rain with a big table. They gave detailed instructions on what to say and what not to say: “You must take a size 3X.” Do not say that, not good.” It was a lot of fun seeing the runners get their prized t-shirts. The organizers made the experience fun and rewarding. That is what Christ did for the disciples. Yes, he sent them among ravenous wolves, but gave them power, instructions, and protocol. Essentially, He gave them everything to be productive and successful. We get one shot at life, and we want to get the most out of it. SO when God sends us out, we go.

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