Tuesday night thoughts. . .

For some reason, a quote by St. Irenaeus has been running through my mind all day. First off, this is odd because I'm not Catholic and don't have much dealing with saints, because I believe the Word says we're all saints. And the second reason it's odd is because for some reason the thought had been one I had dismissed as being unimportant the first time I heard it. Now, however, I'm rethinking things. The quote is:

The glory of God is man fully alive.

I don't really know why I brushed this statement off the first time I heard it. Perhaps it just seemed too shallow for my prideful thinking. Or maybe I was afraid at what trying to be "fully alive" would accomplish. Sometimes I think we can get so strung up on our desires that we forget that sometimes we have to let some things go.

But, to be completely honest, God has been focusing my thoughts on the subject of living for Him quite a bit in the past few weeks. Reading Piper's Future Grace was an eye-opening look at the role Faith plays in every aspect of our lives. His book Don't Waste Your Life, which I read afterward, was another trip through the subject of living life fully satisfied in Christ. Now going through The Purpose Driven Lifeis a daily reminder of just how much my life is driven by the Gospel.

I guess my idea of being fully alive has been changed. Before, I wondered how being fully alive really could be to God's glory. After all, aren't we told to experience life in all it's majesty? And don't we often live that out by filling our minds with art, possesions, and pleasures that don't often line up to God's will? But now, going back to the chapter in Phillipians I quoted last night and the quote from Lewis that I was mulling over on Saturday, I have to question things. Those things don't bring me fully alive. In fact, they're all too often hinderances to keep me from being all that God needs me to be.

And what did Christ say was the greatest commandment? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all you soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." Doesn't that sound like it means all of us? And doesn't that mean that the best way to Glorify God, the best way to Love Him is to incorporate EVERYTHING that we are? To be fully alive is to Glorify God in everything we do.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:31 said "Therfore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Whatever you do. All of us. Anything we do. Every breath. Every thought. Every action. We're to commit to God. He wants ALL of us.

Which, I guess, brings us right back to where we were last night. With Paul, counting all else rubbish if it doesn't help us know Christ more.

The glory of God is man fully alive, indeed.

C-Dubbs