Premium Rush

Just like the movie I talked about in last weeks post (Baby Driver), Premium Rush is an adrenaline rush of a movie! It is about a young man named Wilee who is one of 1,500 bike messengers in New York City. He is known as a reckless daredevil by his friends and co-workers, but also the best at his job. He loves the constant excitement of racing around the city and never knowing what is around each corner.

For those who have not seen the movie, let me give you some background on where the story starts off. Don't worry, I can't stand spoilers so there will never be any in this blog. We start things off seeing Wilee working his job one afternoon, giving us an idea of what his personality and job are like; racing from location to location. We are told much of this through a voice over from Wilee himself. The first line in the film is him saying "I can't work in an office. I don't like wearing suits. I like to ride. Fixed gear, steel frame, no breaks. The bike cannot coast. The pedals never stop turning. Can't stop. Don't want to either."  Little does he know that his next run will change his whole life. While stopping by the HQ of where he works, his boss gets a call from someone needing something delivered, and specifically requests Wilee for the job. Once he arrives, he sees that it is someone he knows, a friend from college named Nima.  She tells him that the envelope she gives him is very important, and must be delivered by a certain time.

Before Wilee even makes it off the college campus, he is intercepted by the main antagonist of the film, a cop named Bobby Monday. Monday is a dirty cop with anger issues and a bad gambling problem. He owes a loan shark a lot of money, and was told that if he got them the envelope that Nima had, his debt would be cleared. So the rest of the movie is spent seeing Monday chase Wilee around the city in an attempt to get the envelope. At first, Wilee panics when he realizes what is going on, wanting nothing to do with it. But then, once he realizes why this envelope and it's contents are so important to Nima, he has a change of heart, and will stop at nothing to ensure that it is delivered on time.

I really enjoy this movie because it has a really unique flare to it. We get a chance to be in Wilee's head and see his reflexes in action and what is going through his mind as he races around New York City. At first, we only see him as a daredevil with a death wish; but as we spend time with him and get to know him, we can look below the surface and see so much more. Like I mentioned before, once Wilee finds out how important the contents of the envelope he is carrying are, he switches gears (bike pun lol) and decides to help get it to where it needs to be.

It's incredible watching the movie and seeing what lengths Wilee is willing to go to to accomplish this. He becomes passionately committed to the task, and unwilling to give up. We as Christians are told to do the same by God. He tells us what is on His heart through the Bible and through prayer with Him. Our responsibility is to listen for when He is sharing His will with us and wants us to be a part of it. When you hear from the Lord, are you committed to doing what He is asking and laying on your heart? Our main purpose here on earth is to live a life that is a testimony and a gift back to God for the life He has given us. To quote the ever wise Gandalf (it's a shock to even me that I haven't incorporated Lord of the Rings in to this blog in some way yet already!) when he is told by Frodo that he wishes none of this had happened and the Ring had never come to him, he responds with "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." What do you do with the time the Lord gives you?

In the movie, Wilee has a very limited window of time, and what at times feels like the whole world being against him. Do you ever feel that way? Wanting so badly to accomplish something, but at the same time feeling that it could just be an impossible task. Phillippians  4:13 tells us: "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." If God tells you He wants you to do something, He will provide a way for you to do it. Trust in the Lord and rely on His strength to see it through, not your own. Life is a marathon race, not a sprint. What will you race for, yourself, or for others and for God's glory?

God bless! 😀
HisDisciple319