What sort of people ought we to be?

Last week was our much anticipated field trip to Galilee. We spent 8 days visiting different biblical and historical sights, as well as going hiking and floating down the Jordan River! For five nights of the trip, we stayed in a small resort at En Gev, right on the Sea of Galilee. It was amazing getting to visit the different locations where Jesus performed a majority of His miracles, and even get to go for a boat ride on the very Sea that He walked on and calmed.

In just one short week we took in a lot of information. On our last evening there, we had a bonfire on the shore and one of our professors, Abner, challenged us with what we would take back from our Galilee trip. His challenge was from 2 Peter; he reminded us that there is only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the coming Day of the Lord. It is so easy for us to create realities of our own in which we live, or to follow "cleverly devised myths" that the world presents. The "American Dream" has become the myth that many of us seek after, and as college students, most of us expect to graduate, get jobs, get married, and live the American Dream. While having a 9 to 5 job, a house in the suburbs, and 2.5 kids is not sin in and of itself, for many it has become their ultimate pursuit. The American Dream isn't the only cleverly devised myth that people follow...there are any number of them. What Abner challenged us was to remember what is really real...it's not getting married (we don't know if we will ever get married - we could die tomorrow), it's not being successful, it's not "living the good life." What is really real is the coming "judgment and destruction of the ungodly" (2 Pet. 3:7). Verses 8-10 says that the Lord's coming will be like a thief in the night and on that day every deed will be exposed and layed bare. So, what sort of people ought we to be? Peter says we should "live lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God." In the following verses (14-18), Peter challenges waiting believers to be found guiltless, without blemish or spot, and to not be deceived by lawless people. "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The fact that Jesus is coming back to judge the world and to fulfill His promises should cause us as believers to hope in what is really real, and to live a life accordingly. Abner's challenge to grow in God's grace and to grow in godliness in light of what is really real was very eye opening for me...it makes me think of what I talked about in my last post..What do I love? What am I living for?

Below are a few pictures from the trip. I hope you enjoy them!

Who will Gideon choose? Some lapped and some knelt - Judges 7. This is Harod Spring, where God set apart 300 men for Gideon.

Running in front of the fortress of Aphek/Antipatris. Paul was taken through here on his way to Caesaria.

Standing by the ruins of Dor, along the Mediterranean Sea.

Walking the streets of Beth Shan.

Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee! The girl in pink is Lily, one of my roomates from Mexico.

Heather and I in front of the Sea of Galilee.

Standing on the Nazareth Ridge, overlooking the beautiful Jezreel Valley.

Caesaria, where Paul was imprisoned for nearly two years. Herod the Great built a huge man-made port here.