Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can't Get No Satisfaction

One of the songs that were popular in my youth was not particularly upbeat or helpful but it probably did express some of the angst of my generation.  It was not one that particularly resonated with me but as I recently read the book of Haggai, it did come to mind, well, at least some of the lyrics did.  It was the Rolling Stones song with the lyrics “I can’t get no satisfaction”.  Take a look at the chorus of that bleak song:   I can't get no satisfaction; I can't get no satisfaction; Gonna try and I try and I try and I try; I can't get no - I can't get no –   Now take a look at Haggai 1:6 – “ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” It sure sounds like the people of Judah couldn’t get any satisfaction with the things of life that normally should have brought some type of s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hide Not...

Over the centuries, the words have brought great comfort and encouragement.   The words are often used as a benediction or a blessing:   The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.   (Num 6:24-26)   What in the world is a countenance?  By definition, it is a person's face or facial expression. So if the Lord’s face shines upon us and if He lifts up His countenance upon us, what does all that mean? It means that He is giving us His attention.  But even more so, His face shining upon us gives us t he picture of a beaming face like that of a parent for their beloved child.  And the reference to Him lifting up His countenance points to God extending divine favor and peace to us. Sometimes we can appreciate things more by seeing opposites.  The opposite of a lifted face is a face that has fallen, perhaps because of sham...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Fewer, the Better and the Simpler, the Better!

Sometimes, the fewer the words, the better…  Many would probably argue that the most important words in the English language, when strung altogether in the right order, are just three simple words.  And each of those three words is just a one syllable word.  So, not only the fewer the better but also, as a bonus, the simpler, the better! Oh, the three words…they are “I love you” – few, simple and altogether meaningful!      God used them to encourage His people, the people of Israel :  “You are priceless to me. I love you and honor you. So I will trade other people for you. I will give up other nations to save your lives.” (Isa 43:4) The significance of the words “I love you” is inestimable, especially when used in a way that communicates value and commitment And when you look at Jeremiah 31:3, you see a past tense of those words so that “I love you” is “I have loved you”.  But that’s not all that the verse says, the “I have loved y...
Post a Comment
Read more