“Dear, dear Corinthians,
I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”
Sincerely,
Paul – 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (MSG)
Paul was one great letter-writer.
“Enter this wide-open, spacious life.”
“Open up your lives.”
“Live openly and expansively.”
God wants us to live big lives. He sets us free so we can do what He’s put us on the planet to do.
Ever so often I reevaluate life. I’m in my 50’s now, and it can be daunting. Time is clicking off, and no matter what I’ve done, there’s only so much time left.
Raising children was the thing I most wanted in life. Mission accomplished. My husband and I have come full circle after raising two children, back to the two of us.
Now it’s time for new visions and goals. I have many ideas, a few dreams, and a barrel of wishes. I’m working on new endeavors as I hone in on which paths I should take.
No matter what I do, I desire to “live openly and expansively,” as Paul says. I want to live with purpose and passion instead of pitifully trudging through life. The wide-open, spacious life versus the small life. I’ll take the life with no room for fences.
How about an Old Testament reference which agrees with Paul?
“Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby. Fill the air with song, you who’ve never experienced childbirth! You’re ending up with far more children than all those childbearing women. God says so!
Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the pegs deep.
You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don’t be afraid – you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back – you’re not going to come up short. You’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth, and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.”
Isaiah 54:1-4 (THE MESSAGE)
Such hope and expectation!
It doesn’t matter what our lives look like right now, or what we’ve accomplished up to this point; it’s time to think big and really live.
Knowing Jesus makes our lives the most productive, exciting lives on the planet. No matter what He asks us to do, we will be fulfilled and we will bless others.
It’s time to think big and live the wide-open, spacious life.