Feel the Rhythm

In honor of the winter Olympics, I bring you the following clip from Cool Runnings -

"Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up, it's bobsled time!" Cool Runnings is such a great movie. A bunch of sprinters from Jamaica that don't make it to the Olympics as runners end up forming an unheard of bobsled time in a country that never gets snow or ice. What follows is a hilarious process of learning the event and finding a way to come together as a team. In running, every runner has their own lane. In bobsled, four people have to get in the same lane and move as one. They had to find a shared rhythm to make it work.

The same is true in our walk with Christ. We have to get in rhythm with Him to make our lives work. And so, the early Christians set a rhythm to their year that would help them align with the life of Christ. The Christian Year, as its called, starts with the expectation of the promised Messiah and preparing our hearts and lives to receive Him. From there we celebrate His birth with joy and then spend a season rediscovering Jesus' life and ministry here on earth. And then, starting with Ash Wednesday (which happens to be today), we move into the time of Lent, which is a season of walking with Jesus toward the cross and in doing so realizing how much we need the cross to save us from our sin.

I won't continue with a dissertation on the Christian year b/c I think you get the point. When it comes to most things church-related, I'm pretty non-traditional. But I think the early Christians had something good in mind when they intentionally created a rhythm for the year that would mirror that of Jesus' life. In following it year in and year out, they created times and spaces for God to bring us closer to Jesus as we re-live His story - why He came, what He did, why He died, and the power of His resurrection to give life to us all.

I hope you will use this season, this time of preparation and repentance and self-evaluation to draw you closer to Jesus. In your small sacrifices, remember the huge sacrifice God made for you and me in Jesus Christ. In your serving, remember the incredible lengths Jesus went to be the servant of all. In your prayer, take time to get on your knees and open yourself completely to God so He can do the difficult work of sorting through your imperfection and make you ready to walk in life and hope and faith forever as we make our way to Easter and the celebration that we have life forever in Jesus Christ and an opportunity to know Him and love Him because the curtain has been ripped away and death destroyed.

It's time to get in rhythm!