Your Life Trek

By Lane Palmer, Christian Post Guest Columnist Friday, May 22, 2009

Do you remember the first time you were punished by your parents? I'm sure I was scolded, put in time out, or threatened with a potential meeting between Mr. Belt and my posterior as a toddler…but there was one day that will live in my mind forever.

I don't remember what I did - but I do remember being grounded from the TV for a few days. Not a big deal, until 4 pm on Friday came. Yep, that's when the re-runs for Star Trek came on. This was the sacred and most anticipated time of my week, and here I was, forbidden to beam up and boldly go where no man had gone before.

Unacceptable.

So I snuck into a parental free room, turned on the tube, and before we even made it past the opening credits, I was more busted than a Sci-Fi geek at a football practice.

But did that stop me in the future? Of course not - for Sci-Fi geek I became, and especially in terms of a Star Trek Superfan. Kirk, Spock, and the gang became role models, and a world with warp drives, time travel, and transporters sometimes made more sense than the real world.

And just when I thought the Star Trek adventures were headed to the final frontier, the story bursts back into our culture with the phasers way set to fun. The Star Trek film is invading movie theaters and eating up ticket sales like a giant black hole.

This is a good thing…not only because one of the coolest (in a chic geek kinda way) franchises in entertainment history has been successfully rebooted, but also because I hope you learn the same lesson from Star Trek that I did:

Dream big.

In other words, don't skate through life on the path of least resistance, and don't take mediocrity for an answer to your future.

Yes, I realize Star Trek is fantasy, but the inspiration for us in the real world is to burst free from the cultural gravitational pull that tells us to settle and set our sights low for life. The Enterprise was built and new lives and civilizations were discovered because our future characters decided to pursue life with excellence and seek to leave a mark on history.

Interestingly enough, this is the very picture of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. There is nothing remotely close to a boring and unfulfilling life in God's plan for His followers, which is why the Bible is spattered with incredible promises like these:

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10).

Sound boring to you? Absolutely not! In fact, I can't imagine it being possible to live an adventurous and excellent life apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ and dedicating your destiny to bringing Him honor and glory.

And yet we try. We swallow the deception and misdirection of the world which tries to make you believe that money and pleasure are the keys to contentment and fulfillment.

C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, put it best:

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. - C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
How about you? Are you 'far too easily pleased'? If so, take a lesson and download some inspiration from the fantasy world of Star Trek and the absolute reality of God's word. Set your life course to do something great for God's glory, and I promise you'll boldly go where you've never gone before!

Flashpoint: Ignite Into Action

When you get past the small talk with most folks, you soon realize that if we were really truthful with ourselves, there is a pervasive and widespread feeling of boredom and a lifestyle of mediocrity in our culture. As Christians, we should live life with such passion and excellence that people are drawn to ask why we are different. As well, it is quite possible that your friends and family who don't know Jesus think following Him is just a matter of going to heaven. This week, show people your passion for Jesus Christ, and pass along the good news that eternal life also has a day to day impact on this life.

Accelerant: Feed the Fire

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples (Psalm 96:3).

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8).