The Life part 4
Its amazing to me the way "religious folk" will spend (waste) their three T's (time, talent, treasure) trying to make sure they get a good afterlife. Trading the present for a hopeful future. And, I know, its folly to live like there's no tomorrow. Because then tomorrow comes and you've suffering because you squandered what you had. I get that. We need a balance between past, present, and future. Learn from the past, live in the present, and build for the future. But that's different than living for what happens after death. Jesus didn't come to give us an afterlife. He came to give us a LIFE. HIS life. The abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that is the gift of God. The GIFT of God. We don't have to earn this life. It was given to us. We just have to live it. And, since living and loving are the same thing, we just have to love it. How many times do we hear people talk about hating their life? Because they thought it would go a certain way and it didn't. I'm guilty of the latter part of that statement. I did everything I was "supposed" to do. College, marriage, a kid, blah blah blah. And it didn't work out the way I thought it would. No, not at all. But that doesn't mean give up. Doesn't mean give in to bitterness and disappointment. You've probably heard the old saying, "If you want to hear God laugh... tell Him your plans." And I don't necessarily think God is callous enough to laugh in our faces, but the point is, if I can quote Mike Tyson, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." I think the best way in life to get disappointed is to have expectations. Because what we think is going to happen usually isn't what's going to happen. Unless we're extreme realists. That's why worrying is so destructive. Have you ever wrecked yourself worrying about something that didn't even happen? Yeah... People let us down, because we expect them to be someone they aren't. That's the opposite of love. The opposite of living. Live and let live, if I can say it that way. Let people be who they are. Love them anyway. And, as always, I'm not saying you should let any and every thing fly. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. But loving people IS standing for something. Standing FOR love. Standing FOR people. Not against them. If you live a life of worrying, and complaining, and letting circumstances defeat you... that's even worse than wasting your life in order to "earn" an afterlife. Because at that point you're just wasting your life. Period. Your not living if you're letting anything except love lead you. Follow your heart. Let what's inside (LOVE) come out, by knowing and believing that its in there. Receiving and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Releasing it BY receiving it. Filling yourself up to overflowing with the love that God has already filled you with. That's how you live in the present. By letting God love you, and loving others with that same love. That's what life is. That's what Jesus showed us when He laid His life down for us; He gave us everything He is and everything He had. He showed us how to love. He showed us how to live. Jesus came that we might have LIFE. Not an afterlife. He came that we might know love--know God--and in knowing, experience it by giving it away. By loving others. That's what its all about. That's what life is.