This Life

“Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.”
- Acts 5:20

It's interesting that THIS is the charge given to the Apostles after the Angel released them from prison. And I say interesting, I guess, because I would expect their orders to be more along the lines of "tell people about Jesus" or "tell people about the Kingdom of God" or "spread the Good News." But instead the angel instructs them to tell people everything about this life.

To me this just confirms what I have long suspected...that "Eternal Life" begins now...it begins here. There is no waiting for death...our new life begins now. Death is just a transition. It is an event. But it is neither the start nor the end. Jesus calls to give us life...life here and now...and without end.

"...I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." - John 10:10b

And so the Angel is instructing the Apostles to tell people that Jesus is about life...about the lives they are living right now. Jesus is here...ever-present...desiring to be a part of our lives. Not just in some lofty, theological sense...but a part of our every day, minute-to-minute lives. Again Jesus tells us:

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life..."

.

The resurrected Lord is about living. All that He taught...all His commandments...all that He calls us to begins in this life. The path to God is practical. Holiness is practical. Saints are practical people.

If we keep waiting for something to happen so that we can start experiencing God's presence in our lives...then we have already missed it. God is here...now. We just need to ask Him to open our eyes....and to let His Word teach us how to live, how to grow, and how to love...not "when we get to Heaven" or once we become holy...but right now...in This Life!