Live a Full Life not a Busy Life

Busy. Busy. Busy. Be all I can be.

Dizzy. Dizzy. Dizzy. Take a spin and you’ll see.

Two of me. Two of me. Full of duplicity.

Copies of copies blurred with intensity.

Jesus never promised to give us busy lives…He promised us full lives.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10 NIV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Who is this thief and how does he destroy life? Satan is the thief and his tactics are sneaky, subtle, and attractive. Satan works to convince us to exchange God’s blessing of fullness for the curse of busyness.

Our world is infatuated with busyness. Busyness has become the standard we use to measure our quality of life. Whoever is the busiest wins. Whoever has the most going on is the most important. Whoever’s calendar is the most packed is the one living the best life possible. Life is not a competition and busyness is not winning.

The busyness deception is a super-clever way to destroy life. It begins with convincing people that activity determines identity. People readily believe that who they are is determined by what they do. When this lie is firmly in place, emptiness ensues. We feel empty because we think that activity will somehow make us complete, so we begin the endless pursuit of busyness. We wrongly believe that if we do more we will be more, so we do and do and do and do but more is never enough and busyness leaves us feeling emptier than ever.

Satan is a liar, but Jesus is the truth. Jesus gives us life and He gives it to the full. We do not earn or achieve fullness…we receive fullness. The full life that Jesus provides begins with the truth that identity is based on who Jesus declares that we are in Him. We find completeness, fullness, and ultimate satisfaction through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. Jesus fills us with His Spirit to a measure of all fullness, so that His fruit is what flows out of our lives. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. One obvious omission from that list is busyness.

Busyness is a curse. Fullness is a blessing.

Let your identity in Jesus determine your activities in this world. You have nothing to prove, nothing to earn, nothing to become. You only have someOne to be and being is greater than doing because being comes from the Truth.

Be disciplined at not being busy. I refuse the curse of busyness. People regularly try to put it on me, but I won’t take it. They say, “I know you are busy,” and I always reply, “I am not busy.” I work way too hard to be busy. I refuse the curse of trading a full life with Jesus for an empty, calendar-filled death with Satan. I have no plans that the Holy Spirit cannot interrupt. I have nothing scheduled that will make God love me more. I am full because Jesus gave me life to the full. I get to participate in all kinds of activities, but they do not define me. I am who God says I am and out of His fullness, I get to live abundantly both now and forevermore.