At the end of camp, as quite often in our church services, we were encouraged to think of just one thing in particular that we learnt. I find this quite cool as often there is so much packed into one sermon or talk that to remember it all and apply it all at one time is impossible, so finding one thing that stood out to focus on is helpful. This year from my copious notes (jokes, I only have about 5 pages which is unusual) I found particularly interesting the thought that our walk with Jesus is about the journey and not the destination. I have been trying to apply this idea in other areas in my life and to focus on what is happening now instead of being too focused on the future so that I don't enjoy the present. Realizing that that applies to my relationship with God as well is interesting.
In Luke 9 Jesus is approached by three people who each want to follow Him but each have things they feel they need to do before, or responsibilities they think come first, or want to follow Jesus, but would keep looking back. One says to Jesus "I'll follow you anywhere!" (v57) but as the camp speaker explained it wasn't about the destination, where they were going. It was about the journey, what happened along the way, how they went, the people they met. Sometimes we are too busy looking ahead to see what is in front of us and what opportunities we miss to influence people's lives or just to give them a helping hand.
