As I write this I’m certain that many of you are like me. I’m the kind of person that has to experience something myself for it to mean anything to me. So, for example, when I read the plethora of background material we received in the mail to prepare us for our trip to Israel I skimmed over it and said to myself, “None of this can possibly prepare me for actually being there…standing where Jesus stood, walking where Peter walked, touching the stone that marks the traditional site where the resurrected Jesus fixed a meal of fish for his disciples. I was right of course (and so are you if, as I said, you are anything like me). Nothing can prepare you for the experiences of a trip to the Holy Land. Yet, I’m compelled to write because I believe that a few of you will read these posts, learn of the many wondrous experiences that await the man or woman who would dare to allow themselves such a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you’ll dive in with both feet - especially if you’re young!
I’m convinced the best time to take a trip to Israel is when you’re young (16-40 years old). I say all this because the days are long, we walk a good amount of the time to reach the sites, and there is little time for rest. Most of the people in our group are over fifty. Of the one hundred and seventy tourists with our group only around thirty are below the age of forty. Often, young people will excuse themselves from adventures like these claiming they can’t afford it. Now, as true as that may be for some, others of you only need to make the decision to take the trip and commit to saving the money.
More often though young people make decisions on the assumption that there will always be another opportunity. Then we wake up and we’re fifty or sixty years old and we can easily afford the trip but we find it’s not as easy to get out of bed as it once was. The hours we spend in the bus hurts our backs and the food isn’t so kind to our stomachs. You can never buy time nor can you borrow a single minute. When it is spent, it’s spent. No going back.
So, as you read these posts ask yourself, 1) “Would I grow in my relationship with God by experiencing these places? If you answered ‘yes,’ then the next question should be, 2) “Is it possible for me to cover the cost of next year’s trip or can I start now to save a few hundred dollars (or less) a month to take the trip in 2008? If you answer ‘yes’ to either of these options then prayerfully consider that their may not be another trip, there may not be a better time, and you’re not getting any younger!
As Lon, our senior pastor says, “Not a sermon, just a thought.”
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net
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