A friend recently pointed out this verse to me. Paul, from the perspective of an Apostle and founding leader of this fellowship of believers, says that he lives if they stand firm in the faith. I don't think Paul was being melodramatic when he said this. Although, clearly, he would not have breathed his last if he had discovered this church had ruptured, he most certainly would have emotionally suffered. The disappointment would have been searing.

This verse says a lot about what real life is. When we casually talk about the life that comes through Christ, this is that kind of life. It living from a core of deep conviction that nothing else is worth living for except Christ. And every day we must make that choice. Do we allow our "intake" to be dominated by the flesh...the things of this world.

I know that for me it would be very easy to drive around listening to sports radio all day. Even talk radio. It would be easy to flip channels at home after a long day at work. But we must carefully monitor our intake so that we are in a constant state of refueling. And there is no excuse with the technology we have at our fingertips. As of this moment, for instance, hundreds of sermons are stored on my iPhone. I have access to hundreds of books that would surely nurture my faith in God and zeal for God.

We must live...the way Christ wants us to live.

1 Thessalonians 3:8