Are you looking for a job? I don’t think the Pony Express is hiring anymore but what a crazy, dangerous, and exciting job that must have been. The money would surely have been enticing. $25 a week was a lot of money. Most unskilled laborers only made about $1 a week in wages so this would be a huge pay raise for most of these men.
More than the money though, I think that young men were attracted to the Pony Express because of the challenge. Were they tough enough? Could they measure up? Did they have what it took to survive all the challenges that the job presented? Were they willing to risk their lives to prove that they were the kind of man who could do this job?
I wonder if, just maybe, we have lost something of that risk-taking spirit in our modern society. For those of us who are Christians, the tendency is the same. We gravitate towards the safe, the comfortable, the average life. It is safe in the middle and it is safe in being average. The older that I get, the easier it is to justify taking the easy road and pursuing comfort. What about you?
Explorer Ernest Shackleton placed the above recruitment ad in the newspaper to enlist men for his 1914 journey to the South Pole. He was not exaggerating. The journey was dangerous and their ship was trapped in the ice and crushed, stranding the men. It took over a year for their rescue, but Shackleton eventually led all of his men to safety.
As we mentioned above, our natural tendency is to gravitate towards the safe and comfortable. The reality, however, is that people who choose the safe life don’t leave a mark or make an impact on the world around them. If Jesus had chosen the safe path, He would have avoided the cross. He could have preached a message that did not offend those in power. He could have conformed to the religious and social norms of His day. It would have been safer but it would not have had the same impact.
In the recent History Channel series, “The Bible,” the scene where Jesus called Simon Peter was powerful. Jesus was in the boat with Peter and he had just landed a miraculous catch of fish. Jesus then told Peter, “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.”
“What are we going to do?” Peter replied.
Jesus answered, “We’re going to change the world.”
Changing the world cost Jesus and Peter everything. Are we willing to pay that price?
Annie and I are serving the Lord in the US, Africa, India, South America, and wherever else he calls. Would you partner with us so we can continue to train leaders and help build great local churches? Just click here to get involved. Thanks so much!
