Quickened part 3
Here's where we get into trouble, "And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). We think its all about what WE do. About EARNING it. And, ironically, this lawyer was talking about what he had to do to INHERIT eternal life. Ironic because inheriting is about who you are, not what you do. You can't do something in order to inherit something. That's the lie that the serpent hissed in Eve's ear way back in the misty garden of Eden: You have to DO in order to BE. When, in truth, we do BECAUSE we be. We can't earn a gift, and that's what eternal life is. Eternal life is the gift of God. Given from Father to Son. Inheritance. Because eternal life is not just any life. It is literally the life of God. The life of love that comes from knowing and believing that we are loved. Remember, the difference between life and death is love. We know that we have passed from death--before the cross we were dead in our trespasses and sins--into life because we love each other. So the lawyer asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. A question that seems to be on our minds even two thousand years ago after the gift was given. And Jesus answered and, "He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?" (Luke 10:26). Meeting the lawyer right where he was out. You're a lawyer, what does the law say? "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself" (Luke 10:27). Somehow, even this head knowledge lawyer got the right answer. He "knew" it, but he didn't KNOW it. "And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live" (Luke 10:28). The question: What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? The answer: Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. Love God by letting Him love you and loving Him back by loving whoever you come into contact with. So if the gift of God is His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life... we "inherit" the gift by giving it away. By receiving and releasing the love of God. To live is to love and to love is to live. We can't do one without doing the other because they are the same thing. I've heard it said you can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. So now that we have been quickened... now that we can BE quickened in an instant, in a moment of need, we can--in a very real way--quicken each other. God brought us back to life. And now we can bring each other to life. We can connect with each other on a deeper level. Not the blind leading the blind, wherein everybody ends up in a ditch, but being led by the Spirit and being called (identified as) the Son(s) of God. People will know we are disciples of God when they see the love we have. The love we GIVE. That's what people are desperate for. And when they see it... they'll run TO God instead of running AWAY from Him. When they see love they'll be drawn to it. And that love brings us to life. That love is how we experience and enjoy the gift we've already been given. We give it away, and then others can experience it too!