More To This Life, by CCM artist Steven Curtis Chapman, was released in 1989. It was from Steven’s third studio album, which bore the same name.
The song is about every day life, and how mundane it all can become when we don’t allow Christ to rule our lives.
Humanity was never meant to live a life of monotony. We were never meant to experience boredom, by living out a day-to-day routine that is filled with tiresome, uninteresting, repetitive actions. Life simply was never intended to be commonplace, yet for many of us living a “modern” twenty-first century lifestyle that is exactly what we are experiencing — pure dull-drum.
So why is it that mankind is all too familiar with all things plain and ordinary? Because most of us live out our every day lives from a purely physical perspective. And what’s worse is that many who claim to be Christians — people who have supposedly given themselves over to living a life that would resemble the life of Christ — are living out such unexciting lives. Hear me people; God did not create you to be mediocre, He created you to live a life full of purpose.
God’s purpose for humanity was to allow us to experience a life full of His Spirit. To bask in the glorious presence of our Creator. Our labor was to be the simple task of ruling and tending the rest of creation (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15). But because we allowed our own selfish desires to interfere with God’s plan, we lost our way and in the process our life of abundance, too (Genesis 3).
So, God made a way for us to return to Him, and to again experience that life of abundance. Jesus Christ became the way for mankind to be restored to God’s original purpose. Jesus did so by becoming a blood sacrifice that would pay our debt of death, which we owed for choosing to be selfish and living a life of materialism. When we choose to surrender our lives over to Christ, we are choosing to die to our selfish wants and desires, and to embrace the life of a true worshiper, which can never be mundane (John 3:16-17, 14:6; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
For a believer, there can never be a secular life and a sacred one. Human-beings only have one life for which to live. God never asks us to compartmentalize our day-to-day lives in this way. We are never to live Monday through Saturday one way, and then live our Sundays another. We are not to live out our professional lives one way, and our home lives differently, nor are we to be contrasting yet again when we enter into the church. No! What ever we choose to do, at any moment of the day, we are to do that task, participate in that mission, fulfill that duty in God’s name. We are to do our jobs and satisfy our promises for the glory of God (Colossians 3:23).
You see, your job may not be directly connected to the church, but that does not mean that your work is less important that that of a pastor, or missionary, or any other cleric. If you are a true believer of Jesus Christ, then anything you do is of the utmost importance. If you follow the teachings of God’s only begotten Son, then you are called to live your life to the glory of your Creator (1 Corinthians 10:31). Once you grasp this understanding, and alter your attitude to model Christ’s, then a humdrum life will never again be one you need to embrace. A life so very abundant in God’s love, grace, and mercy will lift you to a life filled with excitement and new adventures.
So, let’s stop compartmentalizing our lives. Let’s dedicate ourselves to living our lives for the sake of Christ. Let’s surrender ourselves to fulfilling each and every one of our obligations for the glory of God, Almighty. No matter the job you are doing.
Wives, serve your husbands (Ephesians 5:22-24); husbands, rightly lead and love your wives (Ephesians 5:25-27). Moms, serve your families; Dads, rightly lead and love your families. Children obey and serve your parents (Ephesians 6:1-3); parents, rightly lead and love your children. Employees, no matter the business, serve your employers as if your were serving Christ, Himself. Employers, lead and care for your employees just as Christ would lead and care for them. Note these words from the Apostle Paul, which were written to the church in Ephesus:
“Slaves [Employees], obey your earthly masters [employers] with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free [poor or rich]. And masters [employers], treat your slaves [employees] in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that He [God] who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.” (Ephesians 6:5-9)
There really is more to this life, than living and dying. There really is more to this life, than monotonous routines and sterile homes. And certainly there is more to this life, than living physically one moment and then living spiritually the next. Simply concede to live as the Apostle Paul instructed the people of Corinth:
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (1 Corinthians 5:14-21)
Stop thinking of your life as belonging to yourself or the world, and start living your life as one who belongs to the LORD of all. Stop compartmentalizing every facet of the life you have, and start glorifying your Creator in every moment you are given. After all, if you are a true believer, “You know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:24)
Living Your True Purpose by J. Scott Harden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at jasonmin.wordpress.com.
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
More To This Life lyrics and music written by Steven Curtis Chapman and Phil L. Naish. Copyright © 1989 Sparrow Records.
Video made available by Jason Ministries and Sparrow Records; Copyright © 1992 All Rights Reserved.
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