One of my favorite Face Book posts is a photo of a large bear chasing a bicycle rider up the road with the caption, “Sometimes you have to find motivation and sometimes motivation finds you.” What motivates us as Christians? Is it faith or fear? Is it love or duty? Is it obedience or ritual?
When the Israelites escaped Egypt and came to the Red Sea, they realized that the Egyptian army was pursuing them. So when God told Moses to raise his staff and split the sea as a means for them to escape, their fear of the unknown or uncertainty was overcome by their fear of a very real danger. They rushed across the dry sea bed between the walls of water on either side in order to escape from the certain threat of the Egyptians. Afterward they knew it was God who saved them, but at the time I believe it was one fear overcoming another that motivated them to action.
Forty years and a generation later, Joshua was ready to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. They had to cross the Jordan River and it was at its peak depth with very strong currents. This time it was faith and obedience that overcame fear. God instructed Joshua to have the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant ahead of the people and then stop in the middle of the river to allow the people to all pass by on dry ground. This time it was those first steps of the priests into that turbulent, muddy water in faith and obedience that caused the river to stop flowing and allow the people to all walk across the dry river bed into the Promised Land.
As sons and daughters of God, we encounter obstacles on the way to our eternal home. Some of them may seem like a sea or a raging river. Others may seem like violent storms or high mountains in our path. First, the perfect love of God will cast out all of our fears; then our faith in our Heavenly Father and obedience to His Holy Spirit within us will motivate us to take those first steps of faith into the storm or give us the strength to begin our climb over the mountain. Just as God went through the Red Sea and Jordan River with His chosen people, He will go through every trial or difficulty in this life with us, because we are His adopted children through His mercy and grace.
My answers to the questions at the beginning of this blog post are as follows. I am motivated by faith in God and His gift of salvation through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. I am motivated by love; God’s love for me, my love for Him and my love for others. I am motivated by obedience to my heavenly Father, to His word and His Holy Spirit within me. As a result, I am motivated to do the work God has assigned me here on Earth (with or without a bear, the Egyptian army or even Satan chasing me).