Orig. 10/05/10
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
In the year 2000 I was ordained as an elder in my denomination. For the celebration in my honor a cake was ordered and the church wanted a life verse to top it off. Completing the ordination process was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life, finishing the four year correspondence course in only three years.
To say that John 10:10 epitomizes my heart is a gross exaggeration. It is more of a goal than an accomplishment. It serves as a constant reminder of who I choose to, rather wish to become and how I desire to live my life.
I say “choose” because being fully alive is a choice; sometimes a choice that has to be coerced out of me. When fear or laziness paralyzes me Shanna stare me down and boldly ask, “Is this living out your life verse?”
“No honey. You are right.”
I can be such a wimp.
Thanks to Shanna’s loving push I now snowboard. Actually, I fall down a long cold mountain. I have swum three times several hundred yards out to wild dolphins. Did I tell you I can’t swim? I even tried to jump the wake on a wake board. Have you ever seen 250 pounds fly?
Me either!
“I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (NASB).” Some translations say “to the full”. Either way I want to live my life without regrets, without huge lapses in judgment, and without massive scheduling gaps that waste life. Choose life over game stations. Choose coffee with friends over social networking. Choose playing with your children over watching with them. Go to bed last and wake up first.
The list goes on but I am constantly reminded by Joe Lewis’ statement, “We only have one life to live but if we do it right, once is enough.” Failure is reflecting upon life and wishing for a “do-over.” Don’t live today in a way that would elicit regret later. You get one shot at it and the last time I checked there is still no such thing as a fairy godmother, the tooth fairy, some Jeanie-in-a-bottle, or some Tinker Bell who will splash you with her Pixie dust!
Reject living in a rut. Reject living in a shallow grave. Reject passivity.
Instead, live! Really live, every moment. Uncertain retirement is not life. Now is life. Be present in your life. Exploit life. Live it to the fullest!
The only way for a man to soar high is to connect to the ultimate source of life, Jesus Christ our Lord (John 15:1-8). Salvation is the celebration of a new life and existence (2 Corinthians 5:17) but we must do more than simply exist. We must choose to abide in Christ and the fullness of life He offers every day.
Often times, when I am tempted to nap in twilight of mediocrity I hear Shanna’s strong voice in my ear saying “Is this living out your life verse?” In the other I hear the voice of God saying, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.(Isaiah 30:21)’”
