Becoming Alive in Christ
On a number of occasions, distracted people have been harmed by walking into traffic or falling off a cliff. In a similar way, many have spent entire vacations recording their trip without actually experiencing the moment in which they were living because they were simply distracted.
In a television interview actor and comedian Bill Murray was asked, "What is one thing you wish you had that money can’t buy?” Murray responded that he “would love to have the ability to be really here, really alive, more here all the time.” In other words, his wish was to magnify every moment of his life and not be distracted.
The question I’d like to consider is:
Is Bill Murray’s desire simply the wish of a man or does it express a greater truth from a Holy, Omnipotent God?
Years ago, I made a habit of completing my Scripture reading in The Living Bible, which is a paraphrased version of the Bible. It was not until many years later that I came to realize the significance of the word, ‘living’ in describing God’s Word to man and why the present tense of the word matters.
So how does a verb tense in the Bible relate to Bill Murray’s wish?
There are four forms of ‘present tense’ in the English language:
Simple present: I am alive.
Present progressive: I am living.
Present perfect: I have just been alive.
Present perfect progressive: I have been living.
In the Bible there are past and future verb tenses:
Past tense: Genesis 1:1- “In the beginning God created.” John 1:1- “In the beginning was the Word.”
Future tense: John 8:5 – “Jesus said, “If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.””
What about the present tense found in the ancient words of the Scriptures?
In the Old Testament God asked Moses to go to Pharaoh to ask for the release of the Jews from slavery. Moses asked what name for God he should give to the Israelites when they ask. God answered, I AM WHO I AM. That is what you are to say to the Israelites. The I AM is the God of the present tense, present for past generations as well as for future generations. (Exodus 3:14 – 15)
In the New Testament it is recorded that Jesus will be called Immanuel - which means God with us. Our God is alive, living, has just been alive and has been living. (Matthew 1:23)
We serve a Living God...whom witnesses saw, spoke with, ate with, and walked with; stories found in (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24 and John 20 and 21.) Our God is a LIVING GOD.
What does this mean to us, the Bill Murrays of the world who wish to magnify each moment/be “more here” all the time?
Without the Living God and the Living Word Who is Jesus, it is easy for a person to walk into danger, fall off a cliff, or miss out on beautiful experiences. How does this happen?
We can spend a whole lifetime regretting the past, which we cannot alter. Or we can spend time making plans for tomorrow or next year missing out on life today. Learning from the past or planning for the future can be both necessary and beneficial, but with Christ in our lives, our present living becomes ‘more here’ as the I AM opens our hearts, minds, AND souls to His Presence every moment of our lives.
The Word brings life to our souls.
When? When we read, memorize, speak, and magnify the Bible or the Living Word, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. (Ephesians 6:18).
Ask the Spirit to be magnified in you right now. Ask for a clearer understanding of the joy of the ‘right here, right now.’ Pray with thanksgiving in all things. Ask. Seek. Request. Sing. Speak. Write. Study. Every minute, living with Him in the present.
Pray for forgiveness when you cannot forgive. Pray for energy when you want to give up. Pray for the church when you do not feel like attending. Pray that in the present moment you will realize your life, your ‘alive-ness’ and the fact that you are fully alive when you know the living Savior, Jesus.
Bill Murray’s desire to be more alive is from God. And we can only be truly alive when we live in Christ.
Jesus said, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
