Life part 3
We like to complicate things, don't we? There's a line from a song that says, "All I've really gotta do is live and die..." But we make it about everything else. Even though we know better. Because when you begin to receive (and release) the gift of God, you begin to understand that all you've really gotta do is LIVE. And that's what it MEANS to receive and release that gift. Because the gift is eternal life. A life with no beginning and no end. Like in Hebrews 7:1-3, "For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually." Eternal. Perpetual. Always was and always will be. It drives me nuts when people talk about earning a good afterlife. They waste what they have right now in the hopes that it'll get them something better when they die. To which I always say (usually in my head, because I don't want to argue with people) IF we die. And even IF we die, it's merely a change. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:51, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." So the change happens one way or the other. For some it happens through the gates of physical death. And for some it doesn't. (Understanding, of course, that we have all BEEN changed. And we simply need to BE transformed into what we've already BEEN transformed into.) My point it, we rob ourselves of the gift we've been given by trying to earn something that can't be earned. We waste what we've got because we hope that by suffering now we'll get a reward later on. And in that natural, that's kind of the way it goes. But God put His super on our natural when He gave us His only begotten Son. He made things supernatural. Look at that passage in Hebrews again. Melchisedec blessed Abraham. And then Abraham gave him a tenth. We receive... and we release. We receive... BY releasing. A gift is even better when you share it. It's not good for man to be alone. LIFE is better when you share it. When you love those around you. And the best definition of love I've ever seen is found in 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the NLT, "I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me." Giving everything you have and everything you are. Gladly. No matter of the consequences. That's what it means to truly live. You're not "working for God." He's not your boss. You're living in Him. Even as He lives in you. Because He is your life. And God is love. So LOVE is your life. Love is literally the difference between life and death. It (He) is what makes life worth living. What makes life possible to be lived. Not getting, but giving. Because you've already been given. Sharing what you've got. Laying your life down. That's what life is really all about. That's what Jesus did on the cross, and that's what we ought to--what we've been equipped and empowered to--do to each other!