The First Day of My Life

I am very over clichés. They're overused, universal statements applicable to the world, not to the life of Christ. And usually they're wrong.
 
Example: "Love is blind."
 
True love isn't blinding, but eye-opening. The people who love me see the best parts of me. Last year, walking on campus, someone who used to love me said to me once, "I like watching you look at things 'cause it always seems like you see something I don't." I never understood what he meant by that - I figured it was some reference to my English major brain or the fact that I am excited about everything.
 
Here's another one: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow." Gandhi said that (according to the Internet).
 
Without thought, sure, it sounds like decent corny advice for the average American workaholic. But have you ever thought, "What if I actually, literally did that?" If you woke up, and fully acted as though your life was to end at stroke of midnight? Or, in other words, living life to the fullest - carpe diem so to speak.
 
The world thinks we should live this way, but is that truly God-glorifying? I don’t think we're called to live like that.
 
Ignoring that this idea is inherently impractical and fear-driven, it's emphasizing the importance of the self over God. "Live your life to the fullest" has nothing to do with our true purpose and all to do with the idolization of our wants. Would you actually change your actions? I wouldn't.
 
But what if we did the completely opposite?
 
What if we woke up like it's the first day of our life? How would that change the way you live?
 
It would look like living as a child. Think about children and their incredible propensity to find everything amazing. They believe all things, rejoice in all things. We're called to have childlike faith, called to see the world through the eyes of a child.
 
Think about how in awe we would be of everything - how much wonder we'd have - if we were to see them for the first time. If we look upon the world with new eyes, we'll see God in everything.
 
God reveals Himself all through His creation, from the grass in your neighbor's lawn to the barista taking your coffee order. He is beauty, He creates beautiful things for He Himself is beautiful. Scripture talks about this:
 
But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind. 
- Job 12:7-10
 
And again,
 
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
The heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
- Psalm 95:4-5
 
The last chapters of Job + Psalm 104 also praise God for His handiwork; I highly recommend reading those too.
 
What if we lived life with brand new eyes? seeking Him in the ordinary because the ordinary was never intended to be glossed over and ignored. The ordinary is God's handiwork, yet we ask for extravagant things; his extravagance is in the very essence of our lives. When our hearts long after the Lord, the mundane of life is revealed in the way it was always intended to be. What if we stopped going through the motions of our daily routine and woke up to God's presence all around us?
 
What's that like? It's living life in love with God. Love isn’t blind, and Christ has already overcome death.
 
On that autumn stroll, I wasn’t seeing something invisible, but seeing life for the first time. I was in love with Him, and I want to be there again. And by no means is it exclusive to just me; we all can see His presence, no matter where or when.
 
What if I woke up every morning seeing for the first time, being in love with the Creator of all things? How different I would be!

I would have gentleness;
I would be humble.
I would always show kindness.
I would depend upon Him alone;
I would live the life that’s worthy of the calling I have been called.
I would truly, fully, be alive in Christ.  
 
A LIST OF THINGS I SAW THAT REMINDED ME OF GOD
 
leaves
fat squirrels
dried eucalyptus
a terrible song I love
bridges
leon bridges' voice
a middle aged man's smile on his walk
a couple in love
how many people are awake at 8 am
kudzu
the bus stop next to the cemetery
the line outside independent
the immaculate condition of my best friend's car
the existence of strangers
the fact that every living being can reproduce
my favorite song never growing old
fitz
freezer burn muffins that remind me of my grandmother's chocolate cake
white fluff pup on a walk
tree swings and porch swings
long hangouts with a person i love
keurigs and pour overs
100% on quizzes
how my roommates love me
summer days in october
long lines
customer service's kindness
cancelled plans extending grace
sweaty feet
stuffed woodstock dressed as a pirate
child with stuffed dinosaur
 
 songs suggestions !! (that inspired me)
·       “First Day of My Life” -Bright Eyes
·       “Glory & Wonder” -Mosaic MSC
·       “Wonder (Spontaneous)” -Amanda Cook / Bethel

Author | Caroline Beasley