Everyone wants to live life to the fullest. We have all of these self-help books, courses, classes, coaching sessions and every opportunity that we can get to learn to maximize the time we are given on earth.
And almost anyone would know that to live life to the fullest, we must live in a way that pursues the extraordinary. The greatest dread for many is to live an ordinary, dull, boring and unfulfilling life. As Christians, we have often been left to wonder whether God would ever desire that kind of life for His followers.
Can a Christian follow Christ and live an ordinary life? Well, it really depends on how one defines ordinary. If ordinary is described as not earning a whole lot of money, not being able to travel as often, or not getting to get your dream job, then it could be possible that God can give you an ordinary life.
But when "ordinary" is taken in the context of boring, dull and uninteresting, then that is not the way God wants anyone to live their lives. Christian or non-Christian.
Life itself is never ordinary
Mitch Albom once said, "You can find something truly important in an ordinary minute." An extraordinary experience of life here on earth is something that God gives to everyone who lives and breathes. Take a look at the mountains, the fields, the cityscapes, the sunsets, the sky above you and tell me if God isn't good.
Or, how about the idea that God gives us extraordinary privilege to grow in the area of relationships with family and friends? James 1:17 tells us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."
God never meant for anything in this world to be ordinary, but in our familiarity with things, we have become insensitive to the great wonders that God surrounds us with. Every moment, every day, every opportunity and every breath in itself is not ordinary. It is a beautiful, extravagant and extraordinary gift from God.
The last thing God wants is an ordinary life
John 10:10 tells us, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." If there's anyone who wants you to ignore the extraordinary around you and to not pursue an extraordinary purpose with God, it's the devil.
However, God desires and gives us the tools and ability to be extraordinary in our relationships, our careers, our experiences and in our whole life. We serve an extraordinary God who makes all things extraordinary. When He looked at the world after He created it, He called everything good. I don't know what it is in man that we can sometimes neglect this.
As Christians, what God desires for us is to look at life, look around you and see that life is beautiful. Life is extraordinary.
