Jesus Fills Life
Have you ever watched Secondhand Lions? It’s a great movie, one of my favourites. It’s about these two grumpy old brothers living together on a farm in the US. Their young nephew comes to live with them, and he quickly learns that these two men lived amazing, exotic lives back in their heyday… we’re talking hand-to-hand combat with sheiks and marrying princesses and stuff like this.
The movie is really about how this young boy helps the two oldies recover their zest for life. By the end of the movie, these two men have attempted to fly their biplane upside down through a barn, which didn’t end well for them.
But there at the scene of their accident, a helicopter lands, and this wealthy middle-eastern man jumps out with his little boy. And the little boy looks at the airplane and says to his dad “so those men in grandpa’s stories…” (obviously referring to the sheik that these two men battled with those years ago)… “those men from grandpa’s stories, they really lived???”
And the nephew of these two men looks up and says “They REALLY LIVED!”
Jesus: The Real-Life Icon of Abundant Living
In our time there is some skepticism about Jesus. I read a comment on Faecbook the other day where someone was saying “Jesus wasn’t a real person, he was a mythical figure, concocted by the early church”. And I want to say “no… he really lived. HE REALLY LIVED!” Not only is it an historically accurate fact that a man named Jesus the Christ lived around 2000 years ago, but BOY did he live! He lived life to the full! He said this: “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 NIV)
Life to the FULL! Jesus couldn’t offer us life to the full, if he didn’t possess life to the full himself. Jesus really lived. He lived with all his might.
Henry David Thoreau wrote a poem that talks about wanting “to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life”. Jesus lived deep. Jesus “sucked the marrow out of life”. He got the most out of life, even though his life ended so young.
Jesus came to give us LIFE, not just breath in our lungs, but real LIFE, life in all its fullness… Are we living life to the max? And I’m not talking about flying biplanes upside down. Although that does sound fun. It’s about giving up your life for God!
Living Life as a God-Adventure: Find Your Purpose
Have you heard about a man named Wally Herron? He was known as the condor of the jungle. He used to fly his plane to far away places to share the gospel with others, a pilot missionary. THAT’s more of an adventure than flying your biplane upside down.
Life in all its fullness is life with God! It’s life on a God-adventure! When the substance of our life is about our communion with God, and the mission we are on for him, oh man, life gets exciting.
What adventure are you going to go on for God? Don’t think small! Think big! LIVE with all your might! Maybe it’s time for you to live deep and suck the marrow out of life in the name of Jesus.
Don’t think that God is just a boring God. God will give you life to the full, if you have the courage to grab it!
