"What defines a compelling life? Someone who is available to God and regularly experiences God's fellowship, presence, and empowerment. There are no substitutes, no shortcuts. We are not compelling; on the contrary, we are sinful, often poor imitations of our Lord. But when God lives through us, shines through us, and overcomes our worst inclinations with his merciful transformation--that's compelling."
So I've been chewing on this idea: what does it look like to live a compelling life? I even posed that question to the online SP community, curious of what the wider world would say about it. And either I posted it at the wrong time to get some serious responses, or the rest of the world is as baffled by this question as I am. So on I mused...
Then this weekend, I visited my favorite place in the world. Had lots of opportunities to catch up with great friends up that mountain, and on the first night had a conversation that I can't remember the specifics of (it was around midnight, after all) but the gist of which hasn't left me since: living intentionally.
Here, I realized, was something that had to be key to living a compelling life! Living with purpose in what we say, what we do, how we spend our time, in our relationships with people, with God... How often do we--how often do I--simply get caught up in the routines of life, going through the motions and watching the days go by in only semi-meaningful blurs? Squandering minutes, hours on things that aren't necessarily bad, but aren't challenging me, teaching me, using what I've been given for a greater purpose? And how many people are just like me in this? And how would the world sit up and notice if I lived on purpose?
I think God has been trying to teach me this lesson for a while now, with the pieces of this puzzle slowly filtering in...and this weekend, a key piece was laid that unlocked this realization for me. It'll take some soul (and life) searching to figure out exactly what this looks like for me, where I need to make some initial changes, but I am looking forward to what God has for me through this process with great anticipation. For I can be confident of this: "that he who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." [Phil. 1:6]
"Certainly, we all need downtime. Recreation is a good thing... But has the "good" thing begun to crowd out the "best" thing--a determined focus to study and "present [ourselves[ to God as one approved" [2 Tim. 2:15]? Are we redeeming the time, aspiring to receive and develop a mind marked by God? Will this amazing invitation--to have the mind of Christ--so captivate us that we will give up lesser pursuits to seize it?" [Thomas, "The Beautiful Fight"]
