Live!

Image by Daniel Byram from Pixabay 
Used by permission.

When I saw this image on the Internet, I zoomed in to read what some folks had written on the chalkboard in a bar. Despite the heavy accumulation of chalk dust on the board, I managed to read some of the dreams written in the blanks. "Ride the gondolas in Venice with my husband." "Be happily in love." "Marry Ryan."

But one answer intrigued me far more than any of the others. "Live." I reflected on those four large, red letters. What exactly did he mean? To feel fully alive rather than dead inside? To thrive rather than shrivel up? To feel excited rather than bored? To experience adventures rather than stay in the same old rut? To feel eager rather than dutiful? To dare rather than to hesitate?

Did he realize the disconnect between the life he had and the life he was created to have? The life he could have--and should have? That's what happens when we settle for being anything less than what God created us to be. And we recognize it, as did the person who wrote, "Before I die, I want to live." 

But here's the Good News: We can have an abundant life! How? Believe Him. Receive Him. Experience the life He wants us to enjoy here and throughout eternity.