If you could do one thing, every day, for the rest of your life, what would it be?
If you wrote down that answer and then asked yourself the same question a year from now, do you think it would change? Instead of a year from now, what if you asked yourself this question a year ago?
How have your perspectives on life changed in just a single year? Have you learned things from God’s Word that a year ago you’d never thought of? Are there aspects of friendships or relationships that you value more? Are there any aspects that you value less?
For as long as I could remember, my answer was, “Play baseball, no question.” I’d grown up playing baseball since I was about 5 years old and played from spring through fall, every year up until college. At about 18, I switched to recreational baseball leagues and by association, softball.
When I moved to Washington, D.C., after school, I took advantage of the many leagues for young professionals. Over one summer I played for six different teams, each one playing on a specific day of the week, Monday through Saturday (on the seventh day God rested, after all).
But it’s curious how your perspectives change. It doesn’t necessarily have to be related to getting older; sometimes an interest just fades while another catches fire. In summer 2012, I tried something called “CrossFit,” which is a workout routine or a lifestyle, depending on how you look at it. Detractors joke it’s just glorified gym exercise, while enthusiasts swear they’ll never go back to anything else.
While only a year before I couldn’t imagine wanting to do anything besides play some form of baseball, now my desire was to become better at CrossFit. I wanted to learn how to jump over boxes, walk on my hands, or climb ropes without using my legs. I found myself turning down invitations to play softball because I had a CrossFit workout that day. Try to explain to someone that you’re skipping out on the game that week because you want to “workout,” and you’ll get plenty of strange looks. If you were to ask me the question above now, my answer would be, “Crossfit, no question.”
In the same way my shift into CrossFit reminds me how I used to feel about baseball, it piques my interest on the things I used to believe or used to not believe about God’s Word. The ideas I had about the Bible or my faith, or how to navigate church politics, have changed over time.
It’s made me wonder how my opinion may change in the future. When I think how I currently view relationships, family, children and finances, how do they compare to how I viewed those things a year ago? Better yet, how will I view those things a year or five years or even 10 years from now? Will I value certain things more, while valuing other things less? Will I find something in the Bible I never realized and say, “Aha! That makes sense!” Or will I listen to a sermon and decide, “I used to agree with that, but now I’m not so sure.”
We May Change, But God Never Has
While I can’t know a year or five or 10 years from now where my opinions will lie, thankfully we serve a God that does not change (Malachi 3:6). We may not understand a verse of Scripture or fully agree with our church’s position on ministry, but we never need to doubt God offers us His guidance. Even if our views change or evolve over time, we know that Jesus Christ has set the ultimate example for us. He is the same today as He was yesterday and just as He will be forever (Hebrews 13:6).
It’s important to continue to challenge yourself and seek out new activities that keep you motivated. Where only a couple of years ago I’d barely even heard of CrossFit, now I can’t imagine a life in which I don’t get up every day and engage in a workout. And just as at one point in my life I was barely aware of the simplest concepts of Christianity, now I can’t imagine a life in which I don’t get up every day and ask myself if I’m truly building my relationship with Christ.
If you could do one thing, every day, for the rest of your life, what would it be? What are some of the major issues you’ve changed your opinion on in the last few years? Do you have different views on faith, family, relationships or finances? What are some of the things you never thought you’d change your mind on, but now admit you’ve done so?
