"A year from now you may wish you had started today." - Karen Lamb

Sometimes the timelessness of the Bible overshadows the time of the Bible. Jesus' public ministry was three years, which is actually kind of a long time. When I pick up the Bible and see how short the four gospels are, I can confuse their economy with the span of time they take place in. It feels like three months, not three years.

It's hard to get my hands around the idea that these things happened. It's somehow become easier to see them as stories that have meaning for my life today than as something that took place on this very earth, albeit 2000 years ago. But they happened and that stirs up all sorts of questions.

When Jesus turned water into wine for his friends' wedding, did He already feel the weight of what was coming three years later? If I were in His shoes, it seems like it'd be a far-off concept, not an approaching reality. What was the second year like? In that borderline heretical part of my mind, I think it might have been kind of tedious at times - like "Okay, let's get this thing going!"? But was it always thrilling? It sounds like it would be, but it also sounds like it happened in a few months time. What was the beginning of year three like? Was it starting to get more real? Had it always been real? Was there a new sense of urgency to His work?

Imagine how close you'd feel to a small group of people after three years of constant togetherness. Imagine how much you could get done if you set out with aims that you would judge all of your choices by: Demonstrate and proclaim the Kingdom and take your disciples deep enough that they'll continue the work.

In three years, Jesus set enough things in motion to change the world. I'm not Jesus, but I am invited to be crucified with Him. I'm invited to continue His work. What has that meant for my life?

What could I do in three years? Could I change Chicago? My neighborhood? My building? My office? A year from now, what will I wish I had done less of? What will I wish I had done more of? How does my place in God's story inform my choices? What could I do in three years if I took seriously God's call?

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