Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, screaming WOO HOO, What a ride!
A dear friend passed that pithy statement on to me years ago, probably because I am predisposed to live life on the edge of crazy. But silly as it may be, there is some hidden truth buried within that humorous statement. Suppose you purchase a $95.00, 24 karat, personally designed gold-cross pen. Let me pose this question, what is the purpose of that pricey pen? To write, of course. Now suppose that this valuable pen has no ink; it may be stunning in appearance, but if it is unable to achieve its purpose, it fails as a pen. Your money would have been better spent on a cheap Bic pen that actually writes!
Just as that pen, we fail if we don’t fulfill our purpose in life. Examine yourself, are you living or just existing? Webster makes a clear distinction between the two, defining living as vigorous, alive, full of life, and existing as simply to have being. “I am come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Abundant, exceedingly very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, a quantity so abundant as to be considered more than one would expect or anticipate. Jesus promises a life better than we could ever imagine. No one chooses to be mediocre, but when life overwhelms with chores, deadlines, responsibilities, and commitments, we can easily fall into the trap of going about our routine with no real sense of purpose. It is in those moments that our happiness and fulfillment rests solely upon our own achievements or on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We are pens without ink.
Sometimes I need to remind myself of my purpose, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are before.” And with that purpose in mind, I am to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” My purpose is not wealth, prestige, position, or power, but to increase in my knowledge of Him, that continual process of learning, practicing, failing, recovering, adjusting, enduring, overcoming, and maturing. I may skid across the finish line worn and weary, but I want to be able to clearly state: WOO HOO, What a ride!
Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Lord, what an exciting life-living my days in the abundance of Your grace!