The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Life To Its Fullest"
"The Lord Jesus Christ alone defines life, according to God and His Word. We are either existing and waiting to die without Christ. Or we are living in expectation of ultimately being glorified through Him."
Several notable figures have died recently, of whom it has been said, "He lived life to the fullest." By this, the affirmation usually means the deceased possessed the means to live such a life, did many things of note, seemed happy, and brought some form of perceived benefit to others. However, this raises a most cogent question: what is life? And how do we live it to its fullest by the only definition that matters, namely, God's definition.
"To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).
"He is thy life" (Deuteronomy 30:20).
"I am… the life" (John 14:6).
The Lord Jesus Christ alone defines life, according to God and His Word. We are either existing and waiting to die without Christ. Or we are living in expectation of ultimately being glorified through Him. Apart from vital spiritual union with the Lord Jesus, He said, "Ye have no life in you" (John 6:53). Thus, we can do much, gain much in the process, smile, laugh, and have influence on others. Without Christ, however, God pronounces us as dead in the present, and moving toward a "second death" of the most dark and somber prospect (Ephesians 2:1; Revelation 21:8).
Performance, pleasure, prosperity, power, and prominence without piety constitute death. Moreover, a life supposedly "lived to the fullest," but without Christ, serves as a deceiving influence that damns even as it delights. "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth" (I Timothy 5:6). Indeed, find the seemingly poorest and most forgotten of souls, but graced with a heart indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. Such a one "lives life to its fullest" far more than those proclaimed as dead by, again, the only One whose definition of life matters. "And He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury. For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living" (Mark 12:43-44; emphasis added).
To live is Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. God made human hearts to be living, vital branches of the only True Vine that exists (John 15:5). Apart from the Lord Jesus, one can seemingly gain the whole world. But what of the cost? But what of the loss? But what of the cross, where the Prince of life died to make possible the only life we can possess, know, and transmit to others by a heart devoted to His glory? We must answer rightly, that nothing is worth the forfeit of the only Life that can fill and fulfill our hearts both now and forevermore. To live, to live life to its fullest, is indeed Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else.
Thou art the Life of our lives,
the joy of our spirit.
A Voice speaks by Your Word.
We more and more hear it.
To live is Christ, it says, nothing else is.
We kneel to draw near it,
To hear and respond, in the truth of Thy light,
the grace of Thy Spirit…
Thou art the Life, the Life of our lives.
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."
(I John 4:9)
Weekly Memory Verse
Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness."
(Nehemiah 9:17)
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