WILL THE LIFE YOU LIVED OUT LIVE YOU?

I just realized the title I’ve chosen for this article sounds a bit confusing and chaotic. But I think you’ll quickly pick up on what I’m asking, so I’m going to leave it as is.

Have you had that moment (or moments) in life when you realized that living for the things in this world offers a poor return on your time? Of course your days are filled with work, managing money, paying bills, making decisions, dealing with family, dealing with extended family, trudging through some form of suffering or discomfort—not to mention all the other things that fall under a list like this one. But life isn’t found so much in the “what” but rather the “why?” Meaning, what serves as the motivation or source for all that you do?

What matters in life is not what you accomplish or accumulate but rather what remains for all of time. If only the rewards of this earth occupy your attention, when it’s all-said-and-done, what exactly will you leave behind? Consider that:

Money you make, others will spend.
Empires you build, others will run.
Successes you have, others will forget.
While in this world, whatever is made or achieved from this world stays in this world. None of it is coming with you.

The same holds true for a spiritual life lived in self-effort. You may do many great things for God and from many receive great applause, but unless your actions find their source in Jesus, they too will fade like a flower and wither like grass.

How you live directly correlates to what life you cling to
This means that two people can do the very same thing, perhaps witnessing to the lost, yet the one whose actions trace back to self receives only a temporal reward, while the one whose behavior draws from Jesus receives an enduring crown.

So in both the material and spiritual, nothing makes it into eternity without first being birthed in the eternal. It is the source, and not the activity itself which determines whether or not what you do will stare down time and last forever.

You see, when your actions originate from the Originator (the life of Jesus within you), what flows from Him flows through you and eventually hangs on your life, like fruit for others to pick off and consume. Your life serves as a branch through which Jesus’ life passes for the greater good of others.

As nothing but a branch connected to the Vine, I guess, then, your purpose should be to have as much fruit hanging from your life as possible. For this to happen, your life has to be more about Him and less about you.

Through my own journey of faith, I’ve discovered something—I guess more accurately I had to pay for this revelation through my own spiritual starts-and-stops—and it’s this: life and living are two very different things.

How you live directly correlates to what life you cling to. To scoop up a handful of self-reliant-life today will leave you grasping at nothing but air at the finish line. To run the race and finish with nothing to show for it wastes a good life.

But clinging to a greater Life—the Life of Jesus within you—guarantees you a reward. Any action which possesses the DNA of Christ, meaning anything you do that He initiates, passes from this world into eternity. This means that in each moment, if you allow yourself to be the conduit for Jesus to flow through, your investment of time will reap a “forever” reward.

Today you may live in this world, but your life yearns for a different one. With eternity placed in your heart, only the eternal will bring you satisfaction.

The single, most significant thing you can do is whatever Jesus asks of you in this moment.

Why not ask Him what He wants you to do and immediately go do it?

Why not stuff heaven with more of the eternal?

Why not discard a little of this world today so you can make more room for the life that is yet to come?

David Stephens http://beliefchangers.com/site/blog/will-the-life-you-lived-outlive-you/#