Hi how are you all today? I am well but had an extremely busy week last week. I am hoping this week will be less busy. Probably not though as it is getting close to Christmas. How was your week?
I recently went to a funeral of someone very dear to me. She was only a year younger than me so was not that old. One thing that stood out to me in the service was how over and over people said she lived life to the full. That had me thinking. How do we live life to the full? Is there a secret formula or pattern? What does it even mean?
For us who are Christians, I believe the answer to that is the reason that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written – commonly known as the gospels. These books contained an example of how life is lived to the full and the person who did this was Jesus.
So what did the life of Jesus show us? Simply this – that He loved God and loved others. Even when Jesus seemed harsh to the Pharisees, He was loving them. He didn’t want anyone to stay the same but He wanted all to live a God filled life.
So this is what we need to do as well. We need to ensure that we have a relationship with God. You can find more about that by clicking the link to “Want to know Jesus”. Once you have that then you can start being intentional about loving others. One way we do this is by using our gifts. This means helping others, encouraging them, counselling, disciple them, cooking, volunteering at church and the list goes on.
Living life to the full also means that we get satisfaction out of life. What brings most of us satisfaction? It is when we are operating in our talents. Talents and gifts can be the same or they can be totally different. I have an organisational talent but my gifting of writing is solely from God
Have you ever watched a passionate person play an instrument, participate in sport or were talking about their favourite thing? These people were passionate and living life to the full.
There are many examples of this through the Bible, besides Jesus. Moses had a leadership gift and led the people of Israel out of Egypt. David had a warrior gift to defeat the enemies of God. Abigail had the gift of discernment and stopped the slaughter of her family and their workers. Ruth had a servant heart and served her mother in law in numerous ways. These all lived life to the full.
Notice one thing that I haven’t mentioned. It is money. Most people think that to live life to the full requires you to be rich. That is not correct. What is required is obedience to God and the willingness to love others through the gifting He gave you. Money should flow through us like a river and not be stored like a dam. Money is a tool not a possession.
So to start living life to the full, make sure you have a relationship with Jesus then love others with your gifts and use your talents to live passionately.
When you meet Jesus, you will then hear “Well done, good and faithful servant”.
Bless you heaps and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
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