The Abundant Life

I just recently went away on a personal retreat up at the Oaks Christian Conference Center near Lake Hughes, just to spend some alone time with the Lord and to hear from Him.  Like most retreat centers, they have a  trail that leads up to a cross which I decided to hike on the last morning.   As the cross came into full view against the beautiful morning sky, I just felt the Lord impress on my heart the shortness of life and the need to live each day to its fullest.  Living life in the utter realization of our mortality and the hope of our resurrection is the most effective means of following Christ because He lived with that sense of urgency and future perspective.  To live life to the fullest just because you are going to die is not necessarily a Christian virtue.  In fact, it is something that is no different than the world's philosophy of life.  To live  life to its utmost because Christ awaits us on the other side is the most Christian reason to live.  The notion of "carpe diem" means nothing to the believer unless there is a resurrection from the dead and someone who will evaluate the content of our lives.  I hope each of us will live everyday knowing that to live is Christ and to die is gain.