the arena

BARNEYS! I hope this finds you well and in the arena. What hit this week was the mondays meditation on 1 Corinthians 4:9 " For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena." For some reason when i read this verse and thought about it alot through out the week the movie gladiator kept coming into mind. Theres a scene where Russell Crowe goes into this arena to be slaughtered in front of everyone. Now of course he dominates everyone and ends up being the one who slaughters people. But again this verse just paints a image of how dead we should be to our selves. Something I have been struggling with the last couple weeks is dying to myself and staying dead to myself. This verse and really all the passages have just really encouraged me to view what God has done for me and to truly give everything up and to just stay in the arena.

-Chris