THRILLS,CHILLS AND PAIN PILLS By Rhonda Rhea

Thrills. We tend to get them in different places, according to our personalities, likes and individual pain tolerances. Personally, I get a real charge from a lengthy shopping trip (ooh, did I say "charge"?). My husband would rather smash his thumb with a large hammer than have to make a trip to the mall. On the other hand, he loves a long bike trip on a nature trail. Heat, bugs, poison ivy and straining muscles I don't even have? Just bring me the hammer. And a large dose of a strong pain reliever. Thrills may vary from person to person and from hammer to hammer, but there is only one who should thrill us to our very soul.

Only Jesus should be the absolute thrill of our lives. I love the hymn that includes the words: All that thrills my soul is Jesus He is more than life to me Several times a day I have to ask myself if he really is more than life to me. From the shoe sale at the mall to the scenic nature trail, he is the Maker, the reason for it all, he is all of life. No, he's MORE than life. How easily life can become more to me than my Savior. I wish I didn't have to admit what a spiritual wimp I can become at even the slightest distraction. Colossians 1:17 reminds me that he is more than life--whether I recognize it or not. "And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." He IS life. And he is the only one who can direct us to live our lives in the right way. "It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power" (Job 12:10, GNT).

Know what's funny? Life in his power is the only place to find real thrills. Maybe someday I'll write my own hymn about it. It could go something like this: He is my trip to the mall for a giant shoe sale He is my husband's bike ride on a long nature trail He is the most magnificent deep soul-thriller And oh so much better than any goofy pain-killer. Find your every thrill and your very life in the power of the Savior. When he is all that thrills your soul, you'll never need a hammer for anything body-related.