How many followers of Jesus love life?

I mean really love life, with palpable energy.

Have you seen them? There are a few out there. I have met one or two.

They are good people to be around. You feel encouraged. You feel safe. You actually really want what they have.

Whoever of you loves life …
—Psalm 34:12

Now, what do you suppose is the opposite of that?

You know, the person who doesn’t love life, who seems to see the cup as always half empty. That person sucking on a lemon. The one we affectionately call “Debbie Downer.”

Psalm 34 reminds us that the one who loves life is one who doesn’t lie and speaks no evil. Wow.

And the Psalmist continues: The one who loves life seeks peace and pursues it.

So. Are you doing that?

Are you a lover of life?

Perhaps you once were – bringing no ill will and seeking out peace.

Embracing life with 110%. And then the storms of life happen.

Perhaps too much time with network news or reading tweets.

How easily we can slip into patterns of deceit, of crude or cruel speech.

Maybe you’ve stopped pursuing peace in your relationships with other people—even peace in your relationship with God.

Maybe you’ve wandered from where God wants you, and Jesus is inviting you to follow him back.

For a disciple – one who is following Jesus – it is clear that the one we follow shapes our zest for life.

I am grateful for the love of life Christ models for us and pray daily that I am increasingly a love of life like him – with gusto!

~By NavPress Publisher Don Pape, Originally posted on The Disciple-Maker Blog