My wife and I were having a conversation the other day about previous schools our children had been to when they were younger.
We thought of the uniforms and the teachers all the school fairs and nativity plays we had been to over the years.
The Secondary school my daughter went to had a motto that had come up in the Church Times – the weekly newspaper produced by the Church of England. Someone had quoted one of the first Bishops – St Irenaeus – as saying:
‘The Glory of God is Someone Fully Alive.’
Various people have quoted it in talks and sermons and articles. Various other people had written in to say it hadn’t been quoted right. But although it was wrong, it was right too.
It makes me think – on this not so bright Monday morning – what being Fully Alive might be for us.
Is it the opportunity to do thing we love to do?
Is it the chance to do our bit to make the world a better place?
Or the time and space needed to choose to do right in a word where it can be easy not to?
And this question then is not just about the path we walk, the career we choose, the vocation we find ourselves following but a bigger deeper one that says: How can I be fully alive?
We know Jesus says ‘I have come that you may have life and have it in abundance’.
We know that God has made us in His image and breathed life into us.
And we know that Jesus calls us God’s children.
But if we are struggling to offer our work as something that glorifies God because we enjoy doing it.
Or that our work – life balance is so imbalanced that it doesn’t bring us life.
And if we start our week or end our week not feeling alive then maybe our prayer could be:
Lord God, how can I be fully alive for you and how can my life continue to give you glory?.
Today is the feast day of St Peter and St Paul. These two men brought Glory to God in many different ways – through their words, their actions and the steps they took to follow Christ.
As you begin this week, consider the things that make you fully alive and thank God for them.
Consider how you might do them more often.
Consider the things that you feel are a barrier to you being fully alive and how might these be developed into something more life giving and glorifying to God.
And as you step out – Thank God that you are fully alive, called as a Follower of Jesus and Child of God.
May God bless you as you seek to do what He has called you to do today. Amen