Living In The Real

Last night my wife and I went out with some of her staff for an impromptu gathering at a new brewery in our former hometown in Florida.  

It was a perfect night.  The breeze that drifted through our outdoor seating area was cool enough to be refreshing, but not cool enough to bring chills. And there were no mosquitos.   

We ate, laughed and drank together in the gathering dusk.  We spent $30 on bingo cards, and I won $23 of it back.  At one point I actually took a deep breath, closed my eyes and simply rested.  I felt so much joy and peace.  The moment felt eternal.  It was real.  

I read a wonderful quote from Richard Rohr a couple of weeks ago that I wrote down and have been thinking about ever since.  He said this:  

What healthy religion is saying is that real life is both now and later. You have to taste the Real first of all now.  

Far too many Christians are living with the mistaken notion that their faith is all about the future.  The gist of this wrong-headed theology states that all you really need to do is get your ticket punched for Heaven, and you're all set.  That's what matters.  

If we would follow Jesus with our whole hearts then we would realize just how important it is for us to live in the present moment with all of our energy.  There is so much that is real and true right now.  The world needs us to get this.  

And when Jesus followers do begin to embrace the real all around them, they will also come to know that what they are embracing is a Christ-soaked reality that will transform them to be transforming.  

Author and pastor Lauren Winner puts it this way: 

[Jesus] is more than you need, and He is more than pleasure, and if you attend to Him, you will find so much there that you will be derailed completely.  And you will think your heart might break.  

May this be true for you as you embrace the glorious real around you today and every day.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.