Everything I Wish I Could Be...

Did you ever know that you're my hero?

You're everything I wish I could be

I can fly higher than an eagle

Cause you are the wind beneath my wings

Do you remember that song? With the orchestra "rockin' out" behind the classical voice of....wow....I'm not even sure who the classical singing voice was. But I remember it was loud....and it had some vibrato to it! :)

This song makes me chuckle. Yet at the same time...it can make me think. I will jokingly sing these lyrics to students or co-workers when they have done something that makes my day easier or when they have done something that I couldn't do. And the first line is always really easy and funny "Did you ever know that you're my hero?" But even in the joking around moments, I have a hard time singing the second line to most people: "You're everything I wish I could be..."

Tim has been doing a sermon series for the past two weeks on Jesus as our Hero. I had always considered the definition of "hero" to be something like: a man distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility, fortitude; a man who is idealized for possessing superior qualities in any field. But as I was listening to Tim's sermon yesterday on John the Baptist and then as I was running that song through my head this morning, I realized something. When it comes to the Christian faith, God expects us all to be Heroes.

We are supposed to become more like Him in ever increasing glory. We are supposed to follow after Him as hard as we can. We are supposed to take off the clothes of this world and be clothed in Christ. In other words, if we see Jesus as our Hero, and we are supposed to look more and more like Him every day that we live for Him, then that means that I also am intended to be a hero! I am supposed to be a woman of courage, nobility, and fortitude. I am supposed to have some superior qualities that I use for the good of the people.

If Jesus is my hero, then I need to look and think and act more and more like Him every day. And thankfully, I don't have to do that all on my own. Because as cheesy and cliche as it sounds, He is the wind that keeps me up in the air. He is the strength I need. He is my Rock. He is my Shelter. He is my Hero. I know that I will never be just like Jesus. But my prayer for me, and my prayer for you, is that as we worship our Hero and notice the things about Him that are heroic, that we would try to emulate those qualities.

And those thoughts make the words to the song I quoted all the more real. "Jesus, did You ever know that You're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be. I can fly higher than an eagle, because You are the wind beneath my wings."