YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE

We are encouraged to ‘live life to the fullest’ because ‘we only live once’ however what the world will not tell us is that spiritually, we exist forever. The two most dangerous lies ever told are: God isn’t real and the devil does not exist.

If we believe that we only live once and God is not real, we operate from a place of self-reliance. In removing God from the picture, we also erase the commandments He gave us which are laws given not to oppress us, but rather gifts to protect us. If we obeyed even just the first commandment, our world would be unrecognisable because we would totally re-orient our perspective on things of material nature, the way we view and relate to people, and our behaviour and expectations in our interpersonal relationships.

To be separated from God, is to exist against our nature. Our soul yearns to be united with the relationship that bore our existence: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To remain spiritually united with God is to walk in the path He carved out for us. St Catherine of Siena famously said, “Be who God made you to be and you will set the world on fire”. God has a plan for our life, and as I learned while reading the book Unbound (by Neal Lozano), so does the devil.

The true meaning of living our best life and living in the moment is not throwing caution to the wind, selfishly putting our own needs before others’ or making reckless decisions because tomorrow is not promised to anyone. To live in the now, is to experience true peace because we trust God with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5) and to live confidently knowing that in everything God works for good with those who love Him” (Romans 8:28).

We worry constantly over personal relationships, money, future events and their potential outcome, concern over our children’s struggles or not having children, our spouses or not having found a spouse,  feeling trapped in jobs we hate but need, resentment at having to leave our babies and toddlers in the hands of strangers at daycare, illness, ageing parents, world unrest.. the list goes on.

Meanwhile, God has commanded us not to worry. The Bible cites many verses where we are encouraged to trust God. My personal favourite is “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1:9).

The Bible is in fact the “life instruction manual” that we keep wishing we were given at birth. If we choose to embrace it, to open our hearts to God and His endless love for us, we will experience healing in the deepest most broken places of our life. We will find meaning, purpose and joy beyond our wildest imagination.