I’ve spent my day chasing rabbits.  I don’t know where I heard the term first, but it describes my day.  Unfortunately, it describes a lot of my days.  I’ll be diligently working on a translation for a sermon or bible study, when all of a sudden I start chasing down another word or topic of study that has absolutely no relevance to my sermon, the church, or anything to do with life at all. “Oh look, a rabbit…”

Well, I’m back!  Chased another rabbit, had absolutely nothing to with anything at all, but the chase was worth it. Can’t even remember what it was. Had something to do with the Greek root of the word for “submit”.   As my youth pastor keeps reminding me, I’m such a geek.

So I chase rabbits, and in the end, I’m filled with a wide variety of useless and trivial information that really bears no meaning on my greater existence.  Chase too many rabbits and you get really tired, but it seems I can answer a lot of the questions on Jeopardy.  There’s always that!

I had a verse that was sort of my stabilizing rock when I was in seminary; I still fall back on it when I find that I am getting more and more distracted.  There is a tendency in seminary to get caught up in all the new and provocative trends or concepts in Biblical study and theology.  I would observe classmates of mine riding each and every wave that came along in their studies, liberation theology, redaction criticism, natural theology, prosperity gospel… You name it, they were like the waves of sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

The verse that was my bedrock in seminary and continues to be so today was Philippians 3:10-11 “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”  In all I do, in all my studies and my distractions, in all my work and play, what brings me back, what drives me, is my desire, my longing, my hope, to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, that I might become more and more like him in every way.

May this be your desire, your foundation.  In the meantime, have fun chasing rabbits!

SDG