Climb Onboard the Tap Tap
Tap Tap
A few months ago, I was on a short-term mission trip to the island nation of Haiti that had been devastated by an earthquake over eighteen months prior.
As we made our way through the crowded, narrow streets of Port au Prince, I couldn't help but notice these small pickup trucks with toppers on them everywhere I looked. I could see people getting in and out of the backs of the trucks all along the way.
I asked Keith, my friend who had previously been to Haiti, "Are those little pickups hauling people like a bus or taxi?"
"Yes, they are," he replied. "They're called 'tap-taps', because you get on and ride for a distance until you get to where you want to go, then you just tap-tap on the top of the body of the truck so that the driver knows that you want off. He pulls over to the side and lets you off. You pay a small fee to the driver and he's off again until the next tap-tap causes him to pull to the side."
I couldn't help but relate the off and on of the tap-tap to the way that some have treated their faith walk. Many Americans call themselves Christians, but most have decided to step away from an active participation in church life and in taking active steps to grow in their faith.
In essence, these folks have gone for a ways in their faith and decided to step off at some place along their journey. There are a myriad of reasons that people decide to step off, but the end result is that they cease to grow in their faith. That's not the plan that God intended for His believers or for His church. There seems to be a growing discontent in America with being an active member of a church as folks have become complacent about their faith journey.
Churches all over the country have just opened their doors for Trunk-or-Treat events and Fall Festivals in an attempt to draw some of these folks back, hoping that they will return to the faith and begin to journey with Christ once again. Sadly, though many people of all faiths will participate in these events, few will seize the opportunity to begin or return to an active faith journey as a result.
God has great blessings in store for those who seek Him and follow Him with their all. Church attendance certainly doesn't make us perfect, but God does continue to grow believers in their faith through active participation in worship, prayer, Bible study, fellowship with other believers and celebrating the sacraments.
This journey of life is nothing more than a faith journey. Each step we take, God is trying to help us to grow and understand more about Him and His infinite love for each of us. We face new challenges every day that are opportunities for Christ to grow us in our dependence upon Him. We have to agree to make ourselves available for His work within us to be successful.
Wherever you are and whatever your spiritual condition might be, know that you can seek God and He will answer you. He will bring you along on a vibrant journey that is filled with adventure and joy, but you have to be willing to get on the tap-tap and ride it to the end of the line.
I'm praying for you today to get onboard with Jesus and let Him take you on this life's journey. The direction that He will take you is different for each of us, so don't waste any more time! He's waiting for you to climb on!
2Corinthians 5:7; "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Romans 12:1-2; And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice– the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
