ethan houk

Fresh surrender results in fresh filling: a sentiment that has transformed the way Ethan Houk approaches faith. Apart from stagnant religion, he pursues Jesus in such a way that requires consistent upkeep and attention.

Although having grown up exposed to Christian ideology from a young age, it wasn’t until his adolescent years when he truly discovered God’s grace and its crucial relation to sin’s catastrophic effect on mankind.

Sin simply cannot be defeated through any imperfect human’s might.

So as opposed to striving for purity on his own accord, Ethan learned to shift his perspective to the Father, embracing the extended hand that Jesus so freely gives to repair the daunting hole that punctures the human heart.

“I’ve grown up always knowing the Father and the Son, but not so much the Holy Spirit,” Ethan said. “He’s not a thing, He’s a person. He’s God. And He has chosen to dwell within us and we can talk with Him and hear from Him and move through Him in many ways.”

This new-found understanding of the Holy Spirit and the role He has in his walk with Christ has transformed who Ethan is, and I have been lucky enough to witness that firsthand as we have grown up.

During those transformative years, Ethan realized that it was up to him to pursue the responsibility of discovering the beliefs in which he would build his life upon.

Lacking discipleship from anyone else at the time, he dedicated this secluded season to diving head-first into his own faith journey. And last August, as he packed up his car and made the 12-hour trek to college, little did he know that he was about to dive head first into one of the greatest blessings of his life.

This was the leap of faith that enabled him to embrace the long-awaited blessing that fellowship with other like-minded believers provides.

As he now reflects on his first year of college, Ethan has worked to exchange his perfectionist nature for one with more grace, especially when it comes to his educational and career-related endeavors.

With a naturally-analytical mind, the process of sanctification has enlightened Ethan of the power of resting in the Father’s presence, rather than feeling the pressure to plan and achieve everything by himself.

“Of course, I believe that the Lord can give us desires to pursue,” Ethan said. “But, if we take hold of that and aren’t willing to let go, then that’s not being a sacrifice and laying it at the altar.”

Even though he’s practically-oriented in many ways, Ethan does dabble in creative pursuits usually within the realm of filmmaking. Although it can be a struggle at times to not take the analytics too seriously, Ethan does find great enjoyment in creating Christian-related content for social media.

Through the process of surrender, Ethan continues to learn about what it means to find his identity in God rather than in the projects that he creates, knowing that one’s focus should be on the Blesser over the blessing.

This process of letting go of his future has shifted his perspective entirely.

Thus far, if Ethan could pinpoint one crucial piece of advice that he’s learned from his life, it would be that there is always more to discover when it comes to a genuine walk with the Lord.

Rather than conforming to a rigid Christian structure that so many fall victim to, it’s important to heed to a faith that surpasses mere religion.

Because of Jesus, we are dead to the previous law and alive under the redemptive work of the Son of God. We can now embrace a true relationship with our Creator instead of being enslaved to a set of rules that we can never measure up to.

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship." — Hebrews 10:1

Because of this truth, Ethan meditates on what it means to pursue wholeheartedness. He’s learning about what it looks like to combat being a half-hearted seeker, but instead following the Lord unabashedly.

Ethan has embraces the fact that it’s unnecessary to clean yourself up before coming to the Father. The necessity lies in coming to Him as you are so that He may do a work beyond anyone else’s ability.

“I used to say that I love God and I love Jesus, but now I’m in love with Jesus and that’s just a different perception and perspective that changes everything, genuinely,” Ethan said.