what can we do?
Over this holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas) we all are given a little break in our busy pace to enjoy simple things- family, friends, good food, good football (or if you’re a vikes fan, mediocre football).
It also gives us time to think about, introspectively, who we really are and who we really have come to be. Am I truly a cheerful giver? Do i really have the peace and joy that belief in Christ really provides? How selfish with my time am I, really? Do I really love my family, and actually desire to love them sacrificially? Honest, often times awkward, self examining questions.
In the New Testament, the book of John has a lot to say about examining your life. John 10:10 Jesus says ‘I have come to give you life, and life to the full’ (paraphrased version). Knowing Jesus’ heart for our lives, gives me his eyes for how He sees my life…is it truly ‘life to the full’ or richly satisfying? If we’re honest, we all desire a ‘full life’ but we really want it without Jesus.
I’ll be honest, I want the ‘full life’ but I often equate it with the “American dream” or something like it. My version of ‘full life’ is enough money in the account to be ‘safe’. two quality cars in the garage to be ‘safe’, healthy kids and a healthy wife so everyone is ‘safe’. Is this really what Jesus meant when he promised us a ‘full life’?
To me, it’s got to be something bigger. A purpose, a plan, an epic battle for good, truth, righteousness, purity. Something to make your blood boil and something to fight for if need be. As I get closer to knowing who Jesus Christ really is, I see His life as a life full of struggle with evil, full of conflict and betrayal and inner struggle with His relationship with His Father. I see His life full of serving others at a great sacrifice to Himself, training a group of idiotic guys and still loving them the whole time, and then dying for a bunch of clowns like me who would reject him, spit in His face, and even still mock Him today….yet He did it all because this was what ‘full life’ meant to Him.
So then I gaze inwardly to myself again and see how my ‘full life’ is much different than Jesus’ version of a ‘full life’. Suffering for doing what is good, serving people that could care less, seeing a few people ‘get it’ but only once in a while. Caring for people and weeping with them when they struggle. What can I do to have this kind of ‘full life’? What can we do to experience the life that’s really worth living, as a follower of Jesus?
So I know look into 2010 with a gratitude for my Father God, and what He has done to provide me His Son and His blood shed for my sin. His love for me is too incredible to describe here, and it leaves me in wonder of who He really is…how could He be this kind and what could He want with me?
I look forward to having His continual guidance, those times with my Father where he calmly lets me know when Im off track, or when to encourage me on in something. I want to listen to His Word and spend time hearing His voice to guide my marriage, my parenting, my pastoring. I want to have this ‘full life’ that Jesus bled and died to give me.
Im a dad and husband with limited time- “Father, inside the home, what can I do for you to expand your Kingdom? Jesus, outside the home, how can I serve you to see others come to know You? Speak directly, quickly, and specifically, and help me to follow you, as you lead.”