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Life Worth Living


I recently turned on the radio and caught a show already in progress.  A listener called in and the announcer asked the caller: “how do you make your living?”  I have no idea what the context was, but the phrase stirred my thinking.  While I was pretty sure I knew what the phrase meant, I decided to look it up on the web.

One web site indicated it is “to earn the money one needs to pay for housing, food, etc”.  Another put it this way:  “to earn enough income to support oneself and, if applicable, one's family”.

Just as I thought, it is a generally understood phrase related to your work and how you support yourself.  But “make your living” shouldn’t be confused with other aspects of living such as “living the life” or “living life”.  According to the web, “living the life” usually means that you are living in comfort with few problems or worries.  While “living life” usually suggests that you are making full use of what life is offering.

The web has some value as far as information goes, but what does the Word of God say about life and living?

In Proverbs 8:35, life and living have nothing to do with comfort or being free from problems or worries or even making full use of what life supposedly offers.  We find life, according to the writer of Proverbs, by finding wisdom.  Living life from God’s perspective then is actually a life that is filled with wisdom.

A “life that is truly life” is mentioned in 1 Timothy 6:19 and it is really quite counter intuitive.  It doesn’t involve riches but it involves being rich in good works.  It’s not about saving up for oneself but it’s about being generous and sharing with others.   

But I think the most powerful paradigm about life is found in John 10.  Jesus said that He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (v. 10).   We sometimes park on that “abundant life” part and miss what comes next in the passage.  The next verse indicates that we have life because Jesus laid down His life for us.  

I could ask you how you make your living.  But maybe I should actually ask if you are really living.  And living life is not really just about comfort or it’s not just about making full use of what life has to offer but it actually starts with making full use of what Jesus is offering and then living as He would have us live.

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