LIVE life!

I have lived a good majority of my life up until this point just going with the flow, drifting through life. It hit me recently. I don’t want to live life like that – I want to live life radically and intentionally – I want to base my life on my sole purpose for even being here – to glorify Christ.

I was thinking about this idea walking at the Marina in Oak Ridge the other day. I was thinking about how badly I wished I could be running instead of walking. I was thankful for the time to enjoy the outdoors, but as I finished up 5 miles, all I could think about was how it would have taken me half the time to run it and how it would have been a better workout if I could have run. I thought about how frustrating it was that my leg was holding me back from my long runs. I was feeling extra nostalgic that day, and my mind drifted back to my cross-country days in high school.

I thought about how much I’d taken them for granted. I thought about all the times I’d made up excuses to get out of runs, and how a couple of my long runs had turned into Sonic runs with my friends. To anyone who wondered why I never looked exhausted, that was my secret ;) This is only one example. I find that in every area of life, we so often apply this mentality. We don’t want anything until we can’t have it. We don’t want to do something until we are told we can’t.

I thought about this in my spiritual life, and how important it is to live radically and intentionally for Jesus. I don’t want to ever have a moment down the road where I look back and say “If only I’d done this..”

If only I’d shared with them about Jesus

If only I’d lived my life in a way that glorified Him

If only I’d shared the gospel

If only I’d responded to them with love rather than with anger

If only I HADN’T given into temptation that one time

If only….

The list could go on and on. I don’t EVER want to live life like that! I want to live my life in a way that every single thing I do glorifies God. I don’t care if it’s running a race, baking a cake, having a conversation with a friend, or even parking my car. I don’t want an empty life based on meaningless friendships and hollow relationships. In every area of my life, I want to show the same intentional love and grace that God shows and reveals to me every minute of my life.

Glorifying God is an intentional pursuit. If we are going to live the Christian life God calls us to, we must live intentionally.

I’ve preached my whole life on how much I love life, and I do. But, it wasn’t until recently that I realized just how much I REALLY loved life. Why? Because God revealed to me things that I can’t put into words. Even in my sad moments, I am alright. No, I am better than alright. I am good!! Why? Because I have a God who lives inside of me who purposefully pursues me. Crazy? Absolutely.

That’s how I want to live! I want to live intentionally. I want to purposefully stay in the Word. I want to have intentional friendships and shower them with love. I want to one day have an intentional marriage, where Christ is the main focus. To me, life is too short to just take these things too lightly. Our main goal on this earth is to glorify Christ.

I love this version of Philippians 3:13-15 (The Message). It says,

^“I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.”

I love that for several reasons, but in summary it definitely is a great illustration of living intentionally. I definitely do not have it all together, but amidst that I want to reach out to Christ for more and more. I can’t get enough of Him! I want to keep reaching out for Him, like he continues to do for me. My hope and Prayer for myself is to live intentionally and quit wasting so much time. I know my days are numbered on this earth – I want to spend every minute I can sharing the Gospel of Christ. I want every part of my life to reflect the Creator of the universe.