The two paths man can take in life

I am now in my middle-aged years, and I find myself gradually feeling the effects of aging on my physical body. At times, I have said the words, “My life is disappointing!” Perhaps you have too. Perhaps it might be true (for now). I once heard someone exclaim, “The wisest are not the ones with the most years in their life, but the ones with the most life in their years.” This person further commented, “There are two paths a man can take: He can try to protect it, or he can try to pursue it.”

These statements are true because this is the same idea that Christ shared with us in Matthew 10:39. Those of us who try to hold onto these present lives on this earth will miss true life in Christ because we are too busy chasing after things that are not infinite. Instead, they are finite due to having a terminal end where both “rust and moths can destroy them.”

When we focus on the finite pleasures and obstacles presented to us in this short life, we indeed are entrenched in the temporary. Sure, it is very difficult not to be enamored at times with what this life presents us, and this is further complicated by the fact that we aren’t offered a glimpse into what awaits us in glory.

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However, we do have God’s unchanging Word that informs us that if we do embrace Christ as both Lord and Savior, we exchange this life for an eternal life of victory lived with our creator both now and after we pass. We can never “earn” this salvation, as it is a gift given by God through his grace alone; but once He gives us eternal life, we are charged with working out that life through the efforts of overcoming the complexities of this present life.

This act of surmounting is the same concept as “pursuing” life rather than trying to protect it. Since Christ tells us he is life (John 14:6), it is him we should pursue. Doing this comes with all kinds of trials though. However, such trials are what God uses to forge us into mighty soldiers capable of conquering all things sent our way.

Once we give our lives to the Lord, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and we are informed that he is greater than anything or anyone that is in this world. Therefore, by that very supernatural power living inside us, we are then energized to overcome life’s challenges as we pursue what God calls us to do!

A major challenge we all face when attempting to conquer is that there are multitudes of people who have settled for a second-rate life who try to convince us that we should do the same. Such efforts are often driven by the negativity one feels about their own lives.

Like crabs in a crab basket, such endeavors try to pull us down when we try subduing the trials before us. It is much easier to procrastinate with others in a similar situation than it is to boldly step out in faith and seize the blessings God has for those who eclipse the average. It should never be our goal to live a “perfect” life, but that’s exactly what many succumb to attempting. We should instead live life in obedience to the one who offers true life.

Time waits for nobody. The years fade, and they do so quickly. What God has put you on this earth to do can only be done and must be done while you still have time to do it. If you languish in life, you simply are wasting the valuable time you have been given to conquer.

We also need to remember to be patient, for God is preparing us through the battles we fight by forging a character worthy of inheriting the eternal life he is preparing for us. This is why God uses the verb “Go” when directing Joshua to take the Promised Land (Joshua 1:2). Living true life and conquering requires action on our part. Let’s not allow time to slip away by failing to understand that we are “more than conquerors” with the responsibility to go out and fulfill God’s will for our lives.