Life Abundantly

Today I am thinking about life. While in Wyoming, Mark and I met a man named Irv who has been a rancher his whole life. His ranch goes back 5 generations in his family, and he is now training a young man, Cole, who he calls his son, to take over. The respect and love that Cole has for Irv is obvious and understandable the minute you meet him. He is a gruff old man with a heart of gold.

One thing that I noticed above all else when Irv talked was his ability to love and live life. Everything he talked about-his family, his land, his work, his friends, his neighbors-is intertwined. There is no separation. They are not parts of his life. They are his life. He has a deep love for all of it and no tolerance for anyone who doesn't. It is a protective love, one that would die for the people and things he loves and believes in. That's the kind of love the Lord has for us, and I truly believe it is that love that is the source of real life.

When we can get to a point in our lives where we live and love completely, unselfishly, generously-then we can say we are experiencing the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give us. Compartmentalizing our lives makes the mundane, everyday, unlikable tasks, as well as the people we just have to put up with, something that must be endured to get to the good stuff. Living life fully and wholly makes them part of the abundance, part of the gift, that would not be complete without their presence. It forces us to love, yet, at the same time, we do it without thinking of the have-to's. We want to, because the loving has become the living. There is no separation.

I don't know if Irv knows the Lord. I hope he does, and will pray that he will if he doesn't yet. I do know that much of what he has learned, and how he has gotten to this point in his life comes from the love and relationship he has with the creation of God surrounding him-the mountains, water, animals, land and people. That is such an awesome example of the way that God's creation is a testimony of Him. Everything He's made, everyone His hand touches, draws people to the reality of who He is and the kind of relationship He wants to have with all of us. May my life speak in the same way. May I learn to truly live love.