Alive or Fully Alive?

Are you alive or fully alive? There shouldn’t be any ambiguity . . . no gray area. Much like pregnancy . . . either you are or you aren’t.

Too often, our satisfaction lies in earthly measures. When we are satisfied with our house, health, finances, family and job, we feel “alive” . . . and we begin to think “isn’t that enough?”

But we know, that despite our current satisfaction, it can’t be like this forever. A sick child, a lost job, a death in the family, a financial surprise . . . something will happen to shake up our earthly satisfaction. And it is often in these challenging situations and difficult moments that God wakes us up and draws us back to our place of ultimate satisfaction . . . being “fully alive” in Him.

I love how He lays this out for us in Scripture. In Philippians 1:6, Paul tells us that “he who began a good work will carry it on to completion.” What a great reminder that despite our circumstances (good or bad), there is a bigger story being written about our lives. A few verses later, Paul goes on to pray for us, that “our love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (Philippians 1:9). He’s showing us the direct connection between our heart for God and the truths we know about Him.

So how do we make the subtle transition from alive to fully alive . . .

  1. Investing time in the Word of God –Allowing our lives to be shaped by the wisdom and truth of the Bible rather than the messages we get from the world.
  2. Authentic community with others –You can’t become fully alive in isolation. We are called to real and authentic relationships.
  3. Prayer –You can increase intimacy in a relationship by increasing communication. Fully alive followers of Jesus “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), not out of obligation but out of devotion and desire.

The world wants us to dip our toe into faith . . . will we be alive? Of course. But there is more available . . . an opportunity to be fully alive. God wants us to jump in . . . cannonball style off of the high dive. To have life to the full (John 10:10) or, as the Message translation puts it, to have “real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”

Prayer – Jesus, remind me today of your promise of a full life. Not an easy life but a full life.  Guide my decisions today, allow me to walk with you with open eyes . . . to see to the opportunities ahead of me and open hands . . . to loosely hold onto my stuff so I can lean more into you. The life you want for me is more than I could ever imagine. Thank you. Amen.

Will you work towards becoming fully alive instead of just alive?

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