I just attended my cousin's graduation from the school of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Tennessee. She spent years of her life going through a very intense program in order to become a vet.
For instance:
She spent an average of 96 hours per week on campus, and study time was on top of that.
Towards the end she was lucky to get 10 hours of sleep per week.
She barely had time to eat.
She had absolutely no free time.
I couldn't help but make parallels with my recent experience in Betel. We all thought we were working hard, getting little sleep, and making sacrifices of our free time (and we all knew we weren't skimping on food).
The dedication and hard work that my cousin and all her classmates exhibited in order to graduate was inspiring and amazing. I heartily congratulate each one.
And for those of us in Betel--or any Christian ministry program that involves long hours, sacrifice, or foregoing a "normal" lifestyle, here's a reality check:
Every day, people in the world are exhibiting mind-blowing levels of dedication and sacrifice to pursue their passions. In the case of becoming a vet, it's not even a career that's likely to make you rich. So lest we think we're alone in this, we're not. And if other people can do it because they have a passion for animals, or a desire to do a certain line of work, or merely a pecuniary motive, should we not be able to invest much more for the cause of Christ, who lived and died and rose again for us?
Related posts:
Dedication II
Dedication III
Dedication IV
Yikes. Yes, we should. But it goes back to the flesh vs. spirit battle in your previous posts. Makes you admire even more a David Brainerd or Praying John Hyde who overcame to such great degrees and allowed the spirit to be so victorious in that relentless battle.
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