Resurrection Life part 4
There's a huge difference between "life" and "Resurrection Life." And that difference, in a Word, is love. Before the cross--and, in a very real way before we accept the truth of the cross through the act of water baptism--we were all dead men walking. We just stumbled around in the dark trying to do the best we could with what we have, even though we were convinced we didn't have anything. It was mankind trying to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. Killing ourselves to make a living. Like my mom always says, "What do you get when you work your fingers to the bone? Bony fingers." And, listen, I'm not saying you shouldn't work. Paul wrote something to the effect of, "If you don't work, you don't eat." This life--even in it's most abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life form--is still about taking care of business. But here's the thing, whatsoever you do... do it as unto the Lord, and not men. You have to work for a living, but that doesn't mean you have to kill yourself for a living. You can find a balance. And you can do your work, while you're at work, heartily--to the best of your ability, and because it's in your heart to do it. When I'm at work I look at it as a labor of love. Because it's putting a roof over my family's head and food on my family's table. I love my family. I want to take care of them. Working is how I do that. So it's not pointless. It is, in fact, very pointed. Very purposeful. My point is, when we talk about things like "rest" or "being still and knowing that HE is God" we're not talking about inactivity. We're not talking about not doing anything. Rest is no inactivity. It is, in fact and in truth, Holy Spirit directed activity. Letting the Spirit lead us, guide us, direct us, and protect us. And what the Spirit of truth (that leads and guides us into all truth) directs us to do... is love. What else would the God who is love expect from us? We love, because He first loved us. He fills us with His love and then we love Him back by loving each other. We receive and release the gift we've been given. Breathe in God's love, and breathe out God's love. That's what life is really all about. That's what Resurrection Life is. It's living out of our abundance. And, again, what makes the abundant life abundant... is love. Love is what elevates us out of "life" and into Resurrection Life. Think about it like this: No love... no life. KNOW love... KNOW life. To live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other and you can't do one without the other. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. I truly believe that there is more available to us than we even realize. We cut ouraelves off from what God has given us by trying to earn what has been freely given. By trying to be someone we're not in order to try to get something we think we haven't got. We rob ourselves of the gift we've been given. We miss out on what's available to us. And that's a shame. We ought to just be still. To focus on what we have rather than what we think we don't have. Because if you have love... you have it all. If you have love you have what you need. If you have love... you can give love. Because love is giving. And love... is living!