Tuesday, August 2, 2011

You and Captain America Were Made For More Than This

Captain America

This past week was my birthday and I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. It was great and now that I'm 26 I feel so much older. After my party Allie and I escaped to the movie theater to watch the all new Captain America movie. We were on the edge of our seats the entire time. Explosions, excitement, and even emotion (something not too often seen in summer blockbusters) had us captured for the entire hour and a half.

Most of the movie takes place during World War II. It follows a very slight man named Steve Rogers who gets turned into a super soldier to fight for the U.S. Army. This scrawny man with a huge heart turns into a beast of a man with a huge heart that can out run a car and pickup a motorcycle. It's pretty fantastic.

Steve in the USO

Steve Rogers wants to fight on the front lines. Steve wants to serve his country. He wants to be a real hero. But the Army sees him as an experiment that needs to stay in a lab and be tested, and the politicians see him as a way to sell war bonds and build morale. Neither of those things are his dream.

The conversation that changed everything.

Depressed and ready to give up a woman sits down and talks to Steve. She tells him that he is made for more than just the USO. He is made to fight for his country. That sparks a flame in Steve's head. He puts on a helmet, his leather jacket, and uses his USO shield to storm a Nazi base. Single handedly he rescues 400 men. The Army realizes that he is more than an experiment and the politicians realize he is more than a showman. He is Captain America.

Captain America suited up.

This set off a spark in my mind too. We were made for more than the mundane life. We were made for more than just 70+ years and then dead. We were made for eternal life and made to lead others into that eternal life. That pang you get in your heart that says, "This can't be all there is" has been designed by God. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart. Yes, you were made for more than this. God made you for Heaven.

It's when we start living and thinking about our ultimate goal, Heaven, that we start living differently. Suffering for Christ on Earth isn't just something we put up with anymore, it becomes a joy. We don't make more money for the sake of getting more stuff. We make more money to give it away. We don't schedule our day for our own good, but we schedule our day for God's good. The list of things that change could go on. Paul says in Philippians 3:7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Everything changes when Christ enters the pictures.

Let me encourage you this week. Stop living like this is all there is. You were made for more than the mundane you were made for the extraordinary! God hasn't saved you so you could attend Oceanside on a Sunday morning. He saved you so you could serve Him and he would reward you greater than you can even imagine in Heaven. Take charge, break into satan's strong hold, and make him sweat! Satan hates it when you start living like you have a purpose. #KSITT