Last week, Nathan Bradbury, Levi Turney and I hiked the Grand Canyon. There are many ways to see the different parts of the Grand Canyon, and a person could explore it all of their life and not see it all.
To maximize the experience and see as much as possible, we hiked from the top of the south rim to the Colorado River at the bottom and then back up a different trail that took us back to the top of the south rim of the canyon. In total, we hiked a little more than 17 miles and were in the canyon a little over 14 hours. We hiked the full 17 miles all in the same day.
While hiking, I had plenty of time to reflect upon a number of different things. Here are some of the things that I thought, in no particular order:
- God is AMAZING.
- My knees hurt.
- My ankles hurt.
- Everything hurts.
- I wish I didn’t weigh 220 lbs.!
- Biofreeze spray is great.
Outside of those thoughts, which came and went repeatedly as the day progressed, I also thought through this Sunday’s sermon and pondered God’s magnificent glory. Nathan, Levi and I discussed how most of mankind refuses to hear Christian perspectives regarding the world around us, but this is nothing new.
In the past weeks we have heard eye-witness reports of Jesus performing a variety of miracles, each displaying a different form of his divine power, yet, even many who were eye-witnesses of the miracles would not accept that Jesus was the King and Savior. It should be no surprise to us today that God is not glorified. Where there is love of sin, there is no glorification of God. Jesus said in John 3:19,
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
These were all thoughts that were swirling in my mind as I tried to distract myself from my own physical agonies. I also thought, “What’s the solution?” And the answer came ringing back, “The solution is the same today as it has always been – Jesus.”
If we love people, what must we do? We must expose them to the amazing wonders that make the Grand Canyon look like a muddy hoofprint in comparison. We must find a way – we must find the courage to share the story of Jesus.
When you share, you should know in advance that people will see Jesus in much the same way as people see the Grand Canyon today. Some see a freak of nature but others will see the glory of God.
Many thanks to those who prayed for us while we were hiking!
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
