Amazing Moments

There are so many amazing moments in life. We miss too many of them. Too often we fail to see them for what they are when they are. We might realize some time later it was an amazing moment but in the midst of it we seem to miss it.

I believe this truth can be found in chapter one of Ecclesiastes. Which is, perhaps, the most depressing portion of the Bible. Basically it says that all is vanity and that life just keeps on rolling. The sun comes up and goes down. The rivers roll to the sea yet the sea is never full.

Many people read this and never get the rest of the book. That there is a time for everything under the sun. In the midst of it all being temporary, it is still worth doing. The problem is that we too often just see the water rolling toward the sea and forget to stop and enjoy the majesty of the trickling brook or the wonder of the waterfall. We can get focused on the fact that as the sun goes down it is just going to come back and forget to stand in awe of the sunset and sunrise.

Life is busy. Life rolls on. The world does not stop just because you do and because of that we can get consumed with keeping up instead of living it up. I think followers of Christ ought to be living it up. We should be the people enjoying this life the most. We have the promise of not only life but life to its fullest. We have been set free from the drudgery of the next day and given the freedom to be amazed in this one.

But are you taking the time to do it?

A life to the fullest is probably not as full. A life to the fullest is not one slam-full of junk and stuff and commitments that never end. Life to the fullest is not filled by us but filled by God. A life filled by God is completely full, but with totally different things – or – maybe some of the same things but with a totally different perspective of them.

So, here are some amazing moments recently in the life of Kirk Jones…
1. Hearing my son Daniel pray a precious prayer of faith accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord while lying on a cot with me while on his first mission trip…Priceless!
2. Hearing my daughter Melanie tell me about forgiveness and that God cleans us inside and out because we learned it in a lesson in a life group in our home by cleaning out a cup while praying.
3. Seeing my daughter Kara sing songs to worship the Lord all out although she does not fully get them.
4. Sitting with my family in the midst of a busy restaurant and realizing how precious that one moment is.
5. Staying up late regularly talking about God and the work of his Kingdom with my awesome wife, just like we did when I was in seminary and it was all just theory. The cool thing is for us to still have the same heart and passion and drive. And realizing God had renewed it in me. And that he used her to help do it.
6. Watching my son take a soccer ball in the gut and do his best to shake it off and celebrate that the goal scored was because of his sacrifice.
7. Baptizing 8 people on Easter Sunday in a church that is only 7 years old and has two services in its own building and is growing. Realizing that one’s life work is not really your life’s work, but the work of Christ in your life and not regretting one sacrifice you ever made for it.
8. Sitting with a church member who has had a problem with you or something you did and seeing forgiveness and openness and love that only Christ can give in unity.
9. Sitting in a meeting with your staff and disagreeing and agreeing and remembering back to when you were doing it alone. A great argument for Jesus is worth the battle to fight for the right way and the cause of Christ and it’s a blessing to have great men to serve the Lord with.
10. Sitting with my girls playing barbies and not having a clue what you are supposed to do with them and them not caring one bit because you are sitting there.

Amazing moments happen all the time. Are you seeing them? Do you get it?

Don’t get your life full…get full of life.