To Really Live

One elderly person said, “I just didn’t spend enough time experiencing how good a hot bath really feels.” In other words, he wished he had taken more baths and fewer showers. I think the elderly person is saying I wish I had ‘lived.’

Can I ask you a question? “How long have you lived?” Not how long you’ve been breathing… but how long have you really lived?

I remember driving to Yosemite National Park many years ago. I am not a nature lover, but when I was driving down to the National Park, I saw the Yosemite Dome that was so beautiful, I stopped to take it all in. I was overpowered by the awareness of how small I was and how big it was. In that moment of awareness, I felt like I stepped outside of myself and watched myself living and experiencing Yosemite! I sucked in the scene as I inhaled. In that moment, what I saw was so intense, if I were to live a million years, that moment would be part of who I am. What I saw was nature glorifying the beauty of Jesus. I lived that day!

How long have you lived? Most people walk around like a walking dead, and those who are alive are all to seldom truly alive. C.S. Lewis once said, “Our age is marked by moderate vice and moderate virtue.” Perhaps this is Satan’s greatest feat… deadness of spirit, indifference, passionless living! At least passionate sins are interesting but this lifeless living is unbearable don’t you think?

Jesus referred to such life as ‘lukewarm’. Neither hot nor cold! Jesus offered so much more than an entrance to heaven and deliverance from hell. Jesus offered a new life, different kind of life, a radical life… an abundant life, which is characterized by His indwelling, life-giving presence. 

When we have Jesus living in us, he offers so much more than a promise of an everlasting life. He offers life of joy that erupts from His own joy! An elevated life here and now! When we give the pilot seat of our life to Jesus and allow Jesus to live fully in us, which is to say to live in obedience to Jesus, we can live life on a whole new level of joyful intensity! Perhaps this week, it’ll be prudent for us to reflect on life we live and all that it has to offer in Jesus… perhaps you will experience new abundance in Him! Blessings. Live with Passion!!!

Reflecting on Relationships

In Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town, Emily, the main character, dies while giving birth to a child. In the afterlife, Emily is granted one wish, and she chooses to watch herself and her family live out one day of the life she left behind. Emily chooses her twelfth birthday. She watches herself and family as they talk and interact and carry on the ordinary daily activities.

From Emily’s perspective, as an invisible observer, she is disturbed and horrified by what she witnesses and hears. Neither she nor her family members seem to give any serious attention to one another. Newly aware of how precious life is, she becomes upset and angry because none of them are emotionally involved in their interactions. Everyone is casual in what they say and do, not understanding as she does from the other side of death, that they will never get this day back. She agonizes over the way the day transpires. She cannot stand to watch herself and her family waste what she knows to be so precious. She is shocked that they live life with so little reflection on its importance. 

In the play, Emily turns to the audience and cries out, “Do any of you ever really live life while you're living it?” 

Are you really living? We fail to spend ample time reflecting on our lives.

I remember one night, when my kids were still babies, very small and precious, sleeping in their room. I can still see their beautiful faces and their peaceful innocence. I stood by them for a long time, just watching their chests rise and fall in complete peace. I now know I can never get that moment back. I wish I had done more such reflecting. I wish I had taken less for granted during our precious time together.

This week reflect on your relationships… and live life with passion!

Reflections

Fifty people over the age of 95 were asked: “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” There were myriads of answers but three answers constantly surfaced again and again. These three answers were:

If i had to do it over again, I would reflect more.

If I had to do it over again, I would risk more.

If I had to do it over again, I would do more things that would live on after I am dead.

These are wise lessons on life from those who are most experienced in life. They give us a perspective that can better direct our lives. In the next few articles let’s consider their wise answers.

During the Vietnam War [1959-1975], a young West Point Academy graduate named John was sent to Vietnam to lead a group of new recruits into a battle. One night, a squad of Viet Cong overtook his men. John was able to get all but one of his men to safety in a nearby trench. The one soldier who was captured had been severely wounded, and from the safety of their trench, John and squad could hear the cries of their wounded friend. Compelled by duty and loyalty, John crawled out of the trench to rescue his dying comrade. He got to him safely and was able to drag him back. But just as the wounded man was rolled into safety, John was fatally wounded by a single shot to his back.

Many months later, the wounded soldier returned to the States. So John’s parents invited him to a dinner party to see this young man whose life was spared at such a great cost to them.

This young man came to the dinner drunk! He was loud. He showed no gratitude, remorse or concern for the suffering parents. At the end of the night, after the young man had left, John’s mom collapsed in tears and cried, “To think that our precious son had to die for somebody like that.”

I know our immediate reaction to such story is to judge and condemn this young soldier. But before we pass our own judgement upon this ungrateful soldier, let us consider how much like him most of us are? Jesus died on the cross for us, yet we continue to hurt him. Jesus paid a horrible price to give us eternal life, yet we continue to sin, often intentionally. We owe Him something better but we fail to deliver what we know we should be doing. We fail to reflect upon the cost of our salvation. If we did, our lives would be radically different. Perhaps this week, we can spend some time in gratitude and thanksgiving as we reflect upon the cross, upon which God displayed his love and his righteousness for us. Christian victory is found in Jesus! Let us rest and reflect more upon Jesus! Live with passion!

Live With Passion

Have you heard of a man name Emmanuel Nenger? I first encountered Mr. Nenger's story through a seminar taught by Zig Ziglar. Story goes that in 1887, Nenger went grocery shopping to buy some greens. At the check out, he gave the cashier a twenty dollar bill, and when she put the money in the cash drawer, she noticed ink from the bill had stained her hands due to the moisture from handling the greens Nenger just purchased.

The cashier had known Mr. Nenger for years. She thought, “This can’t be right. Mr. Nenger is no counterfeiter!” Mr. Nenger was an up right citizen and was known in his town as a person of character. But as required by the store, she decided to report the incident to the police, who confirmed that the twenty dollar bill was indeed a counterfeit.

With a search warrant in hand, the police searched Mr. Nenger’s home. In his attic, they found a room where he counterfeited money. Emmanuel Nenger was a master artist and he was reproducing money with paint and brush, all hand drawn.

The police also found three portraits that Nenger had painted and confiscated them. They were masterfully painted. In fact, those portraits sold for $16,000 at an auction. In 1887, that was a small fortune! The irony is that Nenger spent as much time counterfeiting a twenty dollar bill as it took to paint his portraits that would sell for over $5,000.00. 

For sure, Emmanuel Nenger was a thief, but the person he stole the most from was himself!

How about you? Are you stealing from yourself? God has engineered you with success and greatness. You are sons and daughters of God made in the image of God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus! Are you living up to the potential which God has placed in you? If not, why not start today. Believe in what the Bible says about you. And then live! Live with passion!