Life Abundant – Coming Alive
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
– Howard Thurman, African American author, theologian, and civil rights leader
“Man fully alive is the glory of God.”
– St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
– Jesus, Son of God
What does it mean to come fully alive or to live abundantly? How does it feel? To me, thoughts of abundant life conjure up images of a full, bursting heart; one that is running over with God’s joy, peace and purpose. It’s the sense I get when I read/sing Psalm 84, a composition of the sons of Korah:
How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God…for a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory. (vv1-2, 10-11a)
Korah’s descendants seemed to have discovered the secret their ancestor missed in his pride and ambition. Whereas he despised the task of attending to the temple, they delighted in doing what God had uniquely designed them to do. The result is that generations of people later are still being blessed by their gift. Suddenly, this easily overlooked verse takes on new meaning – “Nevertheless, the children of Korah did not die.” (Numbers 26:11). For just as surely as Korah died, his descendants lived to the glory of God.
Rabbi Zusia of Anipoli is quoted as saying, “When the day comes that I must account for my life, I will not be asked: ‘Why weren’t you Moses?’ I was not equipped to be Moses. But I dread the question, ‘Why weren’t you Zusia?’”
Two things to ponder this week:
Who are You (or what makes You come alive)?
Are you living as the You God created?
Be blessed,
R
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