I am honored to have a guest post today from Pastor Chris Page @ Hoosier Harvest Church in Martinsville, IN. Enjoy…
Lessons from the leech
Growing up on a lake meant swimming in the summer. I recall on more than one occasion climbing out of the water only to see what I hoped was a piece of moss or scum hanging off my arm or chest. Sometimes it was “lake stuff”. Other times it was….leeches. As shimmy-shaking as leeches are, we can learn from these critters.
Leeches must attach themselves to another life in order to live. And they live off the blood of their host.
Sounds a lot like the Christ-follower. When we die spiritually to our human nature, we only live by attaching ourselves to the life of Christ, in particularly, His blood.
Leeches will not let go of their source.
I only hope I can have the tenacity of Jacob, who the Bible states, “wrestled with God”. And even though God overpowered him, Jacob would not let go of his source until God blessed him. After their “tussle by the river”, God even changed Jacob’s name to Israel. That night in the wilderness, Jacob (meaning “deceiver”) died, and Israel (meaning “Prince with God”) was born. All because Jacob gave up his life and wouldn’t let go of the life of God until something happened.
Matthew 10:39 Jesus states, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”
This reminds me of the story of three hikers trapped in a blizzard descending the Alps. One of the men couldn’t go on due to injury. One of the other men went on down the slope, trying to save his own life. But the remaining man unloaded his pack, placed the exhausted man on his back, and slowly made his way down the mountain. Several hours later, the two men came upon the frozen body of the fella who barged on without them. Eventually, the injured man and his rescuer made it to base camp. The only thing that saved both of their lives was the shared body heat during the trip.
“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”
One last thing about the leech…
They are never satisfied.
Proverbs 30:15-16 (MSG)
A leech has twin daughters named “Gimme” and “Gimme more.”
May we all disregard our lives for the life of another. Like Jacob. Like the kind mountain rescuer. Like Jesus on the cross. Like the leech.
About Chris…
Chris was born May 29, 1968 in Franklin, Indiana (Bobby Unser won the Indy 500 a few hours later, thus forever forging the bond between Chris and sports).
In 1973, the Page family moved from Greenwood to Martinsville. At the age of 15, Chris received Jesus into his life at a Christian camping event in Piedmont, Missouri (pop. 2,166). “After a Sunday church service, we went to an IGA grocery store in Piedmont for cookout supplies, and that’s when I made the decision to be a Christ-follower. How many people can say they had a salvation experience in an IGA check-out line?”
God did some quick work in Chris as he preached his first message at age 17 and conducted his first water baptism at age 18. “The first person I baptized was this really hot-looking teen age girl named Dana Woodall. Must have been a binding experience, because we got married 3 years later”.
Chris graduated from Indian Creek High School in 1986, Indiana University in 1990, and World Harvest Bible College in 1994. After completing Bible College, Chris and Dana moved back to Martinsville where HHC was started in June, 1994. Daughter Kaley was born in 1995, and son Keelen in 1997.
What Chris likes (random order): Peanut Buster Parfaits…Central Air…When people experience life-change…Fast Roller Coasters…Going to Israel…Late Night Cereal…ESPN baby!
What Chris dislikes (Christians don’t use the word “hate”): Slow moving traffic…Grouchy people…Getting up before 8am (now I’m grouchy)…Mixing my food (casseroles-no way!)…No hot water for the shower…and my 3 most feared words, “Some Assembly Required”.
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