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Living Life to the Full
"Cleopatra was 39 when she died, having ruled Egypt for over two decades. She really lived life to the full!"
I recently heard an historian end his summary of Cleopatra's life like this, and it really didn't sit well with me. It took me some time to figure out why, though.
I think I understand what he was trying to say: Cleopatra died relatively young, but her life was as full, or even more full, of activity/achievement as anyone who lived a typical lifespan. The way he said it, however, was with an admiring tone: "She REALLY lived life to the full!" Did she? What is life, and what is 'fullness' of life?
This world tells us that a full life is a life full of what you desire. If you desire prestige, then you have a full life when you are accumulating prestige. If you desire entertainment, then you have a full life when you are being entertained or finding new forms of entertainment. A full life, then, is having lived a life successfully fulfilling one's desires. Cleopatra lived this life.
Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came so that His sheep would have life, abundant life. Life, then, is tied up in Jesus, One who calls us to deny the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. There is a tension between the expectation of this world to live a 'full life' and the call of Jesus who says, "I am the Life."
So, what does a full life look like? Well, if Jesus is the Life, then His life shows us what a full life is. What was His life? "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." (John 14:9) "He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature." (Hebrews 1:3) Jesus' life was an exhibition of the nature of God. A full life is a life that shows people who God is, in word and in deed. No one ever lived a more full life than Jesus, and He came to let us have that same fullness of life.
Cleopatra's life suddenly doesn't seem very full. In fact, in service to the flesh, you could more accurately say "she lived death to the full." What about you? Are you living life or death to the full? Is your meaning and purpose tied up in your flesh or is it tied up in Jesus? Why do you get up in the morning? Why do you pursue ... anything? Why do you draw your next breath? In what do you hope? As long as you draw breath, hope remains for you to set aside this flesh and the death it peddles. Take hold of real life, and let Him fill you up with it.
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a)
