The Invitation of a Lifetime: Fullness of Life and Discipleship

Monday, October 10, 2005

Fullness of Life and Discipleship

The following is taken from Seize the Day with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, by Charles Ringma, © 2000 Charles Ringma

Proverbs 28:14

I am sure we honour God more if we gratefully accept the life he gives us with all its blessing, loving it and drinking it to the full, grieving deeply and sincerely when we have belittled or thrown away any of the precious things of life.
-Letters and Papers From Prison

Discipleship does not mean that we live a life of deprivation, but rather a life of appreciation, thankfulness, and sharing. It is only the person who has drunk deeply at the well of life who can voluntarily lay aside things for the sake of others. But even then, one needs to return again and again to be filled, stimulated, and encouraged. Discipleship is not throwing blessings away in order to be able to identify with the poor and needy. It is drawing others in to share in the blessings that God gives.

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