Dying to Live

Diverging a little bit today from following the For the Love of God reading plan to talk football and Jesus.  I’m a sports news junkie and something really caught my eye over the weekend.

The yinzers that read my blog may have heard yesterday or this morning that former Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has decided to retire from football.  At age 26.  At an age when most professional athletes are entering the prime of their careers, and the prime of their money making ability, Mendenhall is stepping away from the game that he’s played for 16 years.  He never quite lived up to the expectations that came with being a first round draft pick in 2008, but he put together some solid seasons with the Steelers, picked up a Super Bowl ring along the way, and finished his career with the Arizona Cardinals. 

In the process, he made about $15 million.  Not too shabby.  I think most of us could walk away from work after having amassed such a sum in 5 years of work.  But a lot of people are wondering why he’s walking away now.  Why not keep going for 5 or 6 more years and make another five or ten million. 

Here’s how Mendenhall explained it in an article he wrote for Huffington Post over the weekend:

So when they ask me why I want to leave the NFL at the age of 26, I tell them that I've greatly enjoyed my time, but I no longer wish to put my body at risk for the sake of entertainment. I think about the rest of my life and I want to live it with much quality. And physically, I am grateful that I can walk away feeling as good as I did when I stepped into it.

As for the question of what will I do now, with an entire life in front of me? I say to that, I will LIVE! I plan to live in a way that I never have before, and that is freely, able to fully be me, without the expectation of representing any league, club, shield or city.

I will live. 

That’s it.  That’s his reason right there.  He is dying to live in a way that he never has before.

I bet most of us are dying to live in a way that we never have before either.  We’re just too afraid to admit it or deal with the consequences of living so boldly.  Having $15 million to fall back on wouldn’t hurt, for sure, but how many of us are bold enough to make such a freeing statement and get on with doing it?

This morning in his daily devotional, Food for the Soul, my friend Steve Smith wrote these words that really cut to the heart of the matter for those of us that don’t have $15 million to fall back on:

Your concerns and soul-sickness may not be like mine, but something is bringing your soul a dis-ease, a longing for something different from the life you’ve been living so far.  What is your soul-sickness?  The holes in your soul?  What are you living with that you wish you could change about yourself?

Is it really possible to live this kind of life?  It is if we believe the words that Jesus spoke:

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” – John 11:25

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” – Mark 8:35

When Jesus talks about having life and being alive in the Gospels, he’s not talking about the physiological processes that keep our hearts beating.  He’s talking about something that’s far more excellent and rich and wonderful.  He’s talking about finding the source of all of hopes, dreams, plans and purpose in Him. 

This is the kind of life we find when we are ready to lay down our own agendas and idols (and the agendas that others have for our lives) to live for His Kingdom agenda. 

A life in which we know that we’re forgiven for the sin and shame of our past. 

A life in which we know that we’re free from the chains of bondage to sin. 

A life in which our hearts and minds are healed from the hurt and disappointment of our past. 

A life in which we’re being made new and transformed by His Spirit and His Word and being shaped into his likeness and image. 

How about you?  Are you dying to live today?  I am.  Let’s seek Jesus together.