Living Will Kill You

"To live is Christ but to die is gain." - This is what Paul says concerning his walk with the Lord.  Today I was thinking about the blessing of the end of our lives.  When we choose salvation through Jesus Christ death is our door to reward for a job well done.  If we take our Christian walk seriously and aproach our descipleship with intent we are running a race that will kill every part of us that isn't part of our eternal identity.  The closer we draw to the son(sun) the more our qualities come under fire. There are many times in my Christian walk that I thought this life was killing me, but it is a relief to know that the peaces of me that are burned up reveal something greater. When everything else is burned away the most beautiful parts of ourselves will be left gleaming to the reflection of our Lord.  This can only happen when we break out of our clay shells to become the eternal being that God intended.  There is a glory that these bodies can't hold, and if we are to step into perfection we have to leave our bodies behind at the appointed time of the Lord. If we are going to run the race of descipleship to the end then it will kill us, but this death leads to eternity with the Lord.  The assignments on our lives are not easy ones, and they will take everything within us to accomplish them.  At times we may look insignificant, and other times we may seem so radical that we end up in a league of our own.  Thank God that he has given us everything that we need in him to sustain us in every season of our lives.  Paul says it well when says that he learned to be content in whatever state he is in because "nothing is impossible with God". Life is a wild ride that will eventually kill us all if the Lord doesn't come back first.  At least I will know what I am dying for, which is the glory of the Kingdom of God in my life's story.  If you don't know the end of Paul's story is of his death in a prison, but I don't believe that he would call that a sad ending.  He'd see it as a result of a job well done.  If we can get to that place in our hearts ...if I can get to that place in my life, I believe it would radically change our posture in this world.  I think we could use a change like that, and I think this world is despirate for it.  People who run their own race with singleness of mind accomplish world changing tasks, and although we may never know their names, someone does.  The real accomplishment in this life is to touch someone else's life in a way that will cause them to be their best.  My way of touching lives is to freely love and show them a greater love than mine, the love of God through Jesus.  Check out the many books of the Bible written by Paul.  Try Romans and Ephsians.  They are some of my favorites.

p.s. happy birthday to me!!!