Living our lives in the fullness of the space we live in, to our highest potential should be one of our aspirations, not merely surviving, but actually prospering. Oh, and don’t you know, God’s idea of prosperity in contrast to our own idea can be a very wide difference.
It seems all of us, at one time or another, are hesitant to come to grips with the fact that all things which breath, at some point, stop breathing. Yes, i’m talking about dying. Dying is something we don’t get to practice in order that, when the time comes, we can do it well. There are no courses to take with revealing questions to answer at the end of each chapter which will help us die well. There are no books written by a well known author with a title like, “8 Easy Steps To Dying Well”. Or at least, at this writing, i don’t know of any.
i think many of us aren’t hardly prepared to live, much less die, that is not until we are fading away into eternity and then urgency is upon us and we seriously consider all the things we wish we had said or done. When people attend a funeral, they get all melancholy, waxing philosophic, and voicing reasons as to why this event happened to someone like him or her. Breathe man breathe, death comes to us all, and indeed, is a depressing subject in itself, and it’s true, who wants to be depressed?
Actually, i think our entire nation is somewhat depressed, carrying around a backpack with pockets of hidden pensive sadness concerning the way our lives have gone, morbidly shuffling around a head full of “should have’s” and “might have’s”. You know, it really doesn’t have to be that way. God has a better idea.
Are you taking advantage of every opportunity God extends you, in order that you’d live life to the fullest in the space the Lord gave you? In Christ, how much space is yours? What defines your space? Sure, Jesus is your space, but what are the contents of that space? i think, many times we get so caught up in the details of our work-a-day world, we simply don’t recognize the moments right in front of us. Everyone has seasons of deadlines, problems, distractions and obstacles, and we all want more from life than what we stand in most of the time, yet, often, it just doesn’t seem to be near to our hand to grasp. i don’t think anyone wants to be merely average, i doubt young adults hope they lead a life of more or less. i don’t think anyone dreams of leading a ho-hum existence, making a paycheck, eating enough to live, basically saying they’ll probably live till they die, and that’s all. We all want more than that even if it’s unlikely and is truly beyond our circumstances. The media and advertisers know this and bait us into the hypnotic dazzle of bright lights, and high living, saying, “You can have it all”, and “life is a journey – enjoy the ride”, calling to us with a Siren’s call to buy their product, guaranteeing us life will be fuller if we do this, “one simple thing.” In one way, truly, it’s just that simple, “just do it”, but in another way it’s far larger than we imagine.
i heard a great story by a fellow who said: A young soldier and his commanding officer got on a train together. The only available seats were across from an attractive young woman who was traveling with her grandmother. As they engaged in pleasant conversation, the soldier and the young woman kept eyeing one another; the attraction was obviously mutual. Suddenly the train went into a tunnel and the car became pitch black.
Immediately two sounds were heard: the “smack” of a kiss, and the “whack” of a slap across the face. The grandmother thought “I can’t believe he kissed my granddaughter, but I’m glad she gave him the slap he deserved.”
The commanding officer thought, “I don’t blame the boy for kissing the girl, but it’s a shame that she missed his face and hit me instead.”
The young girl thought, “I’m glad he kissed me, but I wish my grandmother hadn’t slapped him for doing it.”
And as the train broke into the sunlight, the soldier could not wipe the smile off his face. He had just seized the opportunity to kiss a pretty girl, slap his commanding officer and had gotten away with both!
i wouldn’t suggest anyone do what the young man did in that story, but the point is … he seized the moment, and i believe the Lord presents us with many Holy Spirit-charged moments if we’re interested and have eyes to see. O.S. Marden wrote: “There’s no greater sight in the world than that of a person fired with a great purpose, dominated by one unwavering aim.”
In Philippians 3:12-16, Paul is speaking of gaining Christ and the power of His resurrection, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” Gaining ground and keeping the ground we’ve attained are two different things. He’s saying, “i have not arrived, but i can assure you i have left.”
All men will pass away, but the real question is “did you really live?” Are you living well where you are in the fullness of your space, or merely surviving? Are you seeing the God-inspired moments which are in front of you every day, or are you walking past them, completely preoccupied with the dazzle of this world? Let me also add, there is not space to even begin to address those who feel they don’t deserve to have a full life, which is ludicrousness thriving in the shadows of doubt and self-condemnation.
What do you think?