Surviving

It occurs to me that almost everybody I know is busy.

What’s the deal with that? Why do we all stay so busy?

Think of it this way: If someone were to walk up to you right now and ask, “Why do you do the things that you do?”, what would be the true answer to that question?

In answer to that question, I think that some of us would talk about our dreams—the things we want in life; and others of us would talk about our problems—the things we believe are separating us from what we want in life. And some of us wouldn’t talk about anything because we don’t really have an answer to that question.

It seems a sad truth to me that, for as busy as we are, most people are just ... surviving.

We work and work and work just to hang on, and then we spend our free time looking for ways to temporarily escape before it all starts over again.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a thought for you to consider today: this is not what we were made for.

If you find yourself stuck in that particular pattern today, man, do I have good news for you. Lift up your head and open your eyes, because you, as you, starting from right where you are, can live. And I mean really live.

We tend to buy into this lie that the circumstances of our lives determine for us who we must be and our only hope for a better life is for things around us to change. But they don’t, so we just give up, check out, and zombie walk our way through life. But that is baloney. 

Or, more accurately, it’s only half of the story. It is true that we are messed-up people in a messed-up world, and it is true that no matter how hard we try, we can't fix that. But the other half of the story is that it’s not supposed to be that way.

God created us for so much more. And then, because we became shriveled, sinful, messed-up people, Jesus came to rescue us and literally set us free. 

He lived and showed us how to live lives of meaning and freedom in all circumstances. 

He died as a sacrifice to set us free from our sins. 

He came back to life to prove that He is the King, even over death. 

And He’s going to come back one day to end this mess once and for all.

All of that can be a little hard to swallow, and I get that. But it is true and it changes everything. If you want real life, Jesus is the only place you are ever gonna find it. 

But it’s glorious, and I hope you do.