God's Great Invitation

Life is for living.

OK, so you think I should start going by Mark Roth, M.O. (Master of the Obvious). Before you go through the ceremony bestowing the honorary degree, listen to the statement again, this time followed by its companion statement and question.

Life is for living. Few people my age have caught on to that; fewer people your age have caught on to that. Have you?

Tell me about your life in 1997. Rather, tell yourself about it. What have you done with your life? Perhaps gone to school, maybe wrestled with a job (to see who would hold whom down). You likely increased the amount and qualify of the stuff you own. You may have traveled a bit, gone to a few youth gatherings and parties, attended a lot of services and done a lot of shopping. Maybe you built something or developed an idea or pursued a goal or took in some career training. You most likely got in a bunch of playing and entertainment of various sorts. Was that living? Some of it just may have been.

If you already know what I'm driving at here, then you are one of the few that have caught on--life is for living! If this train of thought has derailed for you, hang on while I try to put it back on track. Either way, please read on.

"...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). People who do not live their lives after Jesus are wasting their lives! To think someone who knows the truth would choose to pursue something else boggles the mind. They have a life, but they are not using it for living. In their pursuit of gratification and satisfaction on Planet Earth, they are completely passing over the sureness of abundant living. Turning away from reality they pursue a mirage--realistic, but a mirage nonetheless. What a waste!

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). To really live, know God; to know God is to really live. One of the New Testament writers spoke of giving up everything else so that he might know God. Can you find that passage? Can you live it?!

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25). So many of my generation and yours (and those before ours, no doubt) live feverishly and work strenuously, trying to have a wonderful life. They try so hard to make a life for themselves, and in so doing manage to lose the life they have. Such a squandering of potential is made tragic by the fact that they could have immeasurable success if they would redirect their efforts. Live for the Lord and His kingdom, and you'll find what so many are losing--life!

"...Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). See?! Life is for living! For God. For others. Why waste it?

The Lord extends a gracious invitation to you: Quit wasting your life. Don't blow the currency of your life! Invest it wisely. Go for the big returns. Put it where it is safe. Listen again to the Lord's words to you: "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you" (Isaiah 55:3).

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