Full of Life

Song of Solomon 5:9-11  What is your beloved More than another beloved, O fairest among women? What is your beloved More than another beloved, That you so charge us?  (10)  My beloved is white and ruddy, Chief among ten thousand.  (11)  His head is like the finest gold; His locks are wavy, And black as a raven.

 

There has never been a person more alive than Yeshua.  Jesus lived, and continues to live, completely free, satisfied, engaged, focused, and joyful.  He knows how to live life better than anyone.  This verve and freedom was very misunderstood by religious people:

 

 Luke 7:33-35  John the Baptist came, and he fasted and drank no wine, and you said, 'He has a demon in him!'  (34)  The Son of Man came, and he ate and drank, and you said, 'Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!'  (35)  God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by all who accept it."

 

This wisdom and understanding packaged in a person who didn’t feel like He had to continually get others to follow Him was misunderstood by unbelievers who thought they knew who Jesus was:

 

Luke 4:16-30  Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures  (17)  and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written,  (18)  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed  (19)  and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people."  (20)  Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him,  (21)  as he said to them, "This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read."  (22)  They were all well impressed with him and marveled at the eloquent words that he spoke. They said, "Isn't he the son of Joseph?"  (23)  He said to them, "I am sure that you will quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, heal yourself.' You will also tell me to do here in my hometown the same things you heard were done in Capernaum.  (24)  I tell you this," Jesus added, "prophets are never welcomed in their hometown.  (25)  Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land.  (26)  Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon.  (27)  And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian."  (28)  When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger.  (29)  They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff,  (30)  but he walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.

 

More than what Jesus taught... More than what He was willing to confirm about Himself… Was the WAY He lived. He was free of what was weighing everyone else down.

You can get weighed down by a lot. 

-Concern for health

-Pursuing hobbies or interests

-Accumulating security/wealth/status/identity (these are all basically the same greed for resources to avoid the shame of lacking)

-Comfort of/Control of family/relationships/internal intimate connection and validation

-Appearance/clothes

 

This weighed down/distracted feeling is part of the reason social media is so troubling to so many people. 

 

Pursuing “life” can weigh you down.  Wanting what is just always out of reach, reaching it, and wanting the next thing is EMPTY.  Scrolling through life is exhausting.  It stretches people in several directions.  It steals life.

 

I’ve taken a short break from social media for the last week, which was actually a bit freeing until I realized something:  other distractions crept in to the mental space I thought social media was filling too much. 

 

It’s my human heart, that social media is designed to reach, not social media that is the real “dissatisfier.” My mind scrolls through life whether or not its on a phone.

 

There is just one way to focus on the life man finds most satisfying: dying to self, losing this life, and following Jesus.  He has already demonstrated He is the only one to live, or to beat death.  To live, I need to abide in Him.  Sit before Him in my mind, speak to Him, listen to Him, and ask Him to help me obey Him.

 

THIS satisfies my heart.  It fills my mind with life. 

 

God made man for life.  He demonstrates to us HOW to live in the resurrection of Jesus. Yeshua lived differently than everyone around Him… in fact, He is the only one really living life to its fullness in the stories we read of His time on earth.  Everyone else is empty until they connect their lives to His.  In every story, He is where it’s at!

 

My life isn’t connected to Jesus by knowing about Him.  It isn’t connected to His life by “working for Him.”  My life isn’t connected to His by serving on a worship team, or preaching a message, or writing a book, or having a family that goes to church or prays before dinner.  My life isn’t connected to His by forgoing tv, or resisting scrolling on my phone, or giving anything else up! 

 

My life is connected to His when I want the same life He picked… Focused on only doing what God says, even unto the point of persecution/death, at the loss of all other life options.

 

Matthew 5:10-13  "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!  (11)  "Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers.  (12)  Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted.  (13)  "You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.

 

LIFE.  That’s the only thing saved means. We are saved to LIVE.  Our self-leadership is what we are being saved from, if we are being saved at all. We AREN’T the truth, the way, or the life.  Jesus is the WAY, TRUTH, and LIFE.

 

John 14:6  Jesus answered him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me.

 

Getting rid of distractions won’t save anyone. Getting full of the life of Jesus will.  There is a HUGE difference.

 

John 10:10-17  The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.  (11)  "I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep.  (12)  When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.  (13)  The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep.  (14)  (14-15) I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them.  (16)  There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.  (17)  "The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again.

 

Matthew 19:23-30  Jesus then said to his disciples, "I assure you: it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven.  (24)  I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."  (25)  When the disciples heard this, they were completely amazed. "Who, then, can be saved?" they asked.  (26)  Jesus looked straight at them and answered, "This is impossible for human beings, but for God everything is possible."  (27)  Then Peter spoke up. "Look," he said, "we have left everything and followed you. What will we have?"  (28)  Jesus said to them, "You can be sure that when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne in the New Age, then you twelve followers of mine will also sit on thrones, to rule the twelve tribes of Israel.  (29)  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake, will receive a hundred times more and will be given eternal life.  (30)  But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first.

 

There has never been a man more alive, more satisfied, more sure of who He was and a beacon to others of who they could be, than Jesus.  If I follow Him, I become like Him.  If I just tell others about Him and try to please Him from a distance, I’ll waste my whole life never really living either way.  If I take the time, fix my eyes on Him, and let Him displace the death and dissatisfaction of my own pursuits, I’ll find He has a full life for me… much more than I would have filled my life with.  His life isn’t lived by subtracting distractions, its lived by FILLING my mind with Him. Big difference.