Deadheading

“I don’t want to deadhead after a delivery,” our friend, John, explained. He owns a truck and semi-trailer. If he doesn’t have a load to haul when he drives it, he is losing money instead of profiting. John tries to manage his schedule so that the truck is always loaded, whether going to or coming from a delivery.

The apostle Paul said everything in his life before his salvation—his education, his standing in the religious community, his reputation, his Roman citizenship was all a loss. That sounds to me like deadheading.

I’m wondering how much of my life is “deadheading?” Our American society is geared to accumulating material things, education degrees, being popular with our peers, a large home, several vehicles, and climbing the workplace ladder.

Knowing Jesus Christ as a personal Savior is often overlooked and yet it is the most important ingredient in anyone’s life. After salvation, we can then seek God’s guidance for how He wants us to use our life. Helping others, feeding the poor, serving at church, or volunteering in a ministry are some possibilities. There are many activities we can do that won’t be deadheading, but the most important aspect is Christ as our Savior.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake

I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” Philippians 3:7-8 (NIV)

Helen Hoover