“…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
— John 10:10
The lives we dream of, imagine our minds, and hope for aren’t always bad. Often the problem with our dreams and desires isn’t necessarily the dreams themselves; it’s our idolization of them. We imagine that once we get the dream job, dream house, or dream marriage, all of our insecurities and longings will all of a sudden be fulfilled. Yet story after story of people who actually fulfill their lifelong dreams often come to the end of themselves and are left wondering, “Is that it?” You will never have a life of supreme joy and satisfaction until you live in the presence and goodness of God on a daily basis.
This isn’t just a life that’s filled with going to church, occasionally reading your Bible, and conveniently thanking God when you happen to remember to. Living a life in the presence of God means learning to rest in God amidst the busyness of life. The rest and contentment you feel when you’re worshipping or praying to God becomes no different than the contentment you feel when at work and in the middle of running errands because you remember that there’s a God who intimately sees you and cares for you. The separation between your private life with God and your public life with others will diminish because you’ve learned to enjoy and delight in God in all circumstances. You will have learned to become content. Not because of any material possessions or visible changes like a new job, but because you have learned that a life dedicated to the kingdom of God is a life well spent.
It will be as if you have become a new person, and in a sense, you will be new. When a child of God begins to take on the character of God, they will begin a slow drift of shedding their robes of sin and death for robes of life and light. Their character will exude kindness, humility, charity, and joy to the greatest degree. Not by simple willpower or effort, but by God granting His loving kindness one person at a time, starting with you.
Let today be the day you start becoming a person whose light shines so brightly that the world can’t help but marvel at you. Not because of your great job or beautiful house, but because the grace of God has touched your life and made a lasting impact on the people around you because of how He has transformed you inside and out. When you decide that this is the life for you, you truly will have life and life to the full.