The Maximized Life - Introduction

Have you ever had someone give you a break, a gift of mercy, let you off the hook, or otherwise just grace you with an unexpected gift? Whenever that happens to me I usually remind myself to make good use of the gift; to not waste it in other words. Not infrequently, I hear myself reminding my kids to do this with the breaks and advantages Nancy and I give them.

Our scripture text for tomorrow (which happens to be Father's Day!) is 2 Corinthians 6:1 which reads, "As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain." (New International Version) The Contemporary English Version has it, "We work together with God, and we beg you to make good use of God's kindness to you." And finally, Eugene Peterson's The Message captures that verse this way, "Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."

Tomorrow, from this verse, we are going to discuss what Jesus called "life more abundant" or "eternal life." I call it a maximized life or a life fully lived. We are going to focus on ways to take full advantage of this gift we have been given as well as note five life wasters that we should avoid at all costs. I trust this very practical theme is going to be highly relevant to all of us, so I hope you will join your church family at one of our worship services (9:00 & 10:45).

Looking forward to the Lord's Day.