There was a time when I had not lived long enough to know that life is not a straight line. A younger me, assumed that life was defined by setting a dream and then striving for it. I really believed that things pretty much progressed in that direction with some hurdles to overcome and a few setbacks but progress just happened.
And then I lived. I have been blessed by so many things, including the realization of a dream of planting a church. This was not a lifelong dream, but a dream that has dominated the past 10 years of my life. In this process I have come to realize one primary thing that is defining my pursuit of God.
Life is anything but linear. I have gone through times of great success with a sour heart. I have gone through times of darkness with joy. I have experienced internal setbacks and external setbacks. I have had seasons of serious discouragement right next to seasons of great life and vibrancy.
What has been impressed on me most, is that this life requires a daily coming alive. I do not wake up alive to God. I do not slouch my way into vibrancy. I cannot be spiritually lazy and expect to be on fire for the things that matter most. I need daily reminders and sometimes I need moment by moment reminders that I am forgiven, that I am loved in Christ, that I have something to offer to others through His Spirit.
Although I believe that a person is saved in a moment of confession in which they give their life to Christ and acknowledge Him as their King and ask Him to save them, I equally believe that life must be full of moments of remembrance, moments of recommitment, moment by moment rededication that looks like living out this good news in my life.
I have found that life on this planet is lived from resurrection to resurrection. When I walk on my own I am the walking dead. When I am walking in His power and His life, I live!
I think this is what The apostle Paul meant when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
My hope for my life, and my hope for this day, is to be alive. I don’t want to be a dead-man walking. I don’t want to live a zombie life. I want the abundant life that Jesus has offered to His people.
How about you? Will you come alive today?
