It’s Friday…Fully Drink It In

This world is broken (I can hear some of you saying, “Thank You, Captain-Obvious”). We all know that it is broken; we see and hear evidence of it all around us. Not a day passes that I don’t encounter people who are broken inside. Their lives and our world affirm the explanation given in the early chapters of Genesis. One act of rebellion by Adam and Eve invited the rebellious spirit into the core of our souls, resulting in catastrophic consequences for all mankind. And that rebellious spirit is self-centered by nature (have you witnessed a 2-year-old lately?). Our self-centeredness reverses the flow of the most powerful force in the universe (the love of God) to look out for ourselves first rather than others. Yes, it turns love inward.

That’s a deadly direction. And that’s why Jesus Christ came, lived, was crucified, and was raised to life again, to reverse the impulse of our lives back to God. Our own love was never meant to be spent on ourselves. It was meant to flow outward, to be fully received from God and fully spent on Him and each other. When we embrace the love of God and enter His Kingdom, that tragic reversal is reversed again; love is turned back to its proper direction. The King bathes us in His love, we receive it in gratitude, and only then are we truly free to offer it back to Him and everyone else. That’s how we experience life instead of death in this broken world.

If that isn’t our experience, we are still living in the culture of another kingdom. The Truth is, God’s love in and through us is evidence that we are truly living in His Kingdom environment, drinking in life rather than death. Without His love, we are still walking in darkness and experiencing the fruit of rebellion. We are missing the benefits of living the resurrected life only found in The Resurrected Lord.

“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other.” (I John 3:14)

Allow me to make this suggestion, for the next 40 days leading to Resurrection Sunday, let’s daily check the direction of our love. Is it flowing outward? Is it truly turned toward God and others? It’s okay to admit that it isn’t; we all have had to deal with the remnants of The Fall, even after embracing God and His Kingdom. But if our life feels more like death, then the direction of our love may be the reason. You see, a life living in The Kingdom of God is overflowing with His love. Fully Drink It In. Bask in it. Saturate yourself in it. Then let it spill over lavishly into the lives of others around you who are broken and desperate to see it and sense it. Only then will we and they begin to experience the fulness of the life that Jesus sacrificially gave to bring us.

Have a self-less weekend. Make it better by worshiping The LORD with those who have passed from death to life and live to share such love and selflessness with others daily.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)