On Earth as It Is In Heaven...

When I was fifteen I was given a new understanding on life and what I believed to be God's purpose for it. It was through a scripture I had read and heard many times before but it wasn’t until then that I began to think of if differently. John 3:16- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son so that who ever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".  Until that point, I took the scripture to mean simply, God loved us so he sent Jesus to save us and if we believed it to be true we would go to heaven- hence, the "everlasting life" part. (I am an english wiz and literary analysis is kinda my thing :) Simple right? But then I began to look at and think about the concept of everlasting life not in time, but in content.  After all, it says "everlasting life" not "everlasting existence".  It is not meant for us to merely exist; to breathe, to work, to just be until we don’t. We were made to live! To discover and change and manifest, meaning so much more to us personally than if we were simply to accept ourselves for the ways in which we are and do things as an end-all-be-all.  My favorite scripture, Jeremiah 29:11 says, " For I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and to give you a future and a hope".  He created us for a purpose, and those dreams and hopes and things we've always wanted to do are no accident. For believers this world is not our home, but we serve a LIVING God and how controversial is it to think that he would wish anything less than the same from his creation? He places those desires in our hearts for us to go after and to utilize to show others that being a believer doesn’t mean you are lifeless, dull, and un-aspiring, but the opposite.  We are meant to do all things as an act of worship, even our daily tasks. You don’t think that it would be easier to show the love and compassion and grace of God when doing the things you enjoy? The things you were meant to do? Holy doesn’t mean boring. If our lives are advertisement for the kingdom of heaven do you think many would want to come if all they think we do is bible-beat and sing and pray? The bible says, "With love and kindness have I drawn thee".  How romantic right ladies? So, he isn’t some un-fun, cold prude who demands our love.  If you wouldn’t choose to spend the rest of your life with a man like that why would you seek that in God? You wouldn't. God's purposes are much more practical than it is made out to be. We seek fellowship and friendship with others based off of mutual interests and qualities, and if we never develop those interest or qualities what do we have to offer?  Not just to ourselves but to our world and to everyone in it? We shouldn't be so task oriented that we completely ignore and overshadow the reason we are here, and why we do what we do, which is to live a life that not only pleases God, but that exemplifies him as he is; creative, knowledgeable, kind, gracious, loving, and joyful to say the very least. Life is hard. We experience so much in its short span of grief and struggles and worry and self doubt, pity and fear.  We experience so much heartbreak and are constantly battling between everything that fights for our attention. But lets not forget what having life is and allow it to be so overshadowed by those things. Remember whose you are. Where you are. That you are.