Hi, welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host for the daily challenges.

Our daily challenges are meant to help you explore what it means to follow Jesus, even if you don’t have a lot of time. We have a rhythm that keeps us in sync, even if we’re not a community that meets together in person regularly. Every Monday we introduce the week’s idea. Every Tuesday we study it in the Bible. Every Wednesday we see how that challenges and transforms our thinking on the topic. Thursdays we try to apply and live it out. Friday is a day for prayer and reflection before we take a rest on Saturday, and Sundays we meet together with others in community.

Our series right now is called “We Are”. It follows on two other series – “God Is…” and “Jesus Is…”. Our attention now turns to us, human beings, and what knowing God and following Jesus actually means for our lives.

I used to be a volunteer paramedic, when defibrillators were beginning to gain widespread adoption. I was always told that, as part of the rollout, services would get a plaque when they had their first defibrillator “save”.

A defibrillator save means you found a patient with no vital signs, and through electric shock, brought them back to life. To do that, you can arrive no later than 12 minutes after the person’s heart stops functioning correctly.

Now I served on a rural island, considered remote. Paramedics who lived on the island could go home, and had up to ten minutes after being paged to arrive at the station. The furthest point on the island was 30 minutes away, and then 30 minutes back to the ferry. Even if the patient was much closer, it was still a 20 minute ferry ride to the mainland hospital.

II don’t know if this was urban legend or not, but rumour had it we were the only service in Ontario with no plaque, because we’d never actually saved someone with the defibrillator. It was nearly impossible, given the times involved. If a paramedic lived 10 minutes away from the base, they only had two minutes to drive to you and save you before it was too late. Sad, but saving someone with a defibrillator on that island was a lost cause.

This week we’ll hear the story of someone who died, and seemed like a lost cause, until some followers of Jesus arrived on the scene.

Question: What other lost causes have you seen in life?   Do you know someone with a negative prognosis due to some illness? Someone told they’re palliative? Or what about in other areas of life – someone who’s considered hopeless in work or life?