You haven’t truly lived until you have _________________.
How would you fill in the blank? … Tried a different food? Visited a particular vacation spot? Experienced some unique activity?
Saint Paul has his own answer to fill in the blank above:
17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in
wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything
for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and
willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the
coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19 ESV).
You haven’t truly lived until you so look forward to the fullness of eternal life with God that you are willing to part with everything that may distract from that eternal future. Doing so, Paul says, you “take hold of the life that is truly life.”
So much of what occupies the living of our everyday life isn’t really life—not the kind of life God wants for each of us. The daily “rat race.” Keeping up with the Joneses. The worries about what we have or don’t have. Maintaining our spot on the social ladder (or working our way up to that next rung). How much of our time and energy is spent on these things? Is this the sum total of life and living?
On Easter Sunday, when we sing and shout our “alleluias,” we are praising God for the life that includes the happiness and successes of this life on earth but goes so much farther than the here-and-now. Christ our Savior has opened the doors of eternity to us. This is no short-lived victory. This is not simply a change in status for a period of months, days, or years. This is the total, complete reversal of sin and its effects through Jesus’ own cross and empty tomb. All that causes death and destruction in this world are themselves destroyed. Easter makes permanent our experience of all that is good and right and joy-filled.
Paul tells Timothy (and us!) to grab ahold of this life that Jesus wins for us. Grab onto this life with both hands. Let go of those things that can provide only temporary happiness. Deprioritize those things that may satisfy us for today but will do nothing for us tomorrow. Jesus’ cross and empty tomb usher us into an experience of richness that knows no limits and no end. It’s already yours by faith in Jesus Christ. Own it today with all your heart, soul, mind and strength!
Happy Easter! Happy living—truly living!
God’s Blessings,
Pastor Nyck