I went to a movie. It was about sharks. I have no good shark pictures so I used my picture of this pod of Orcas. They're not sharks, but hey, they live in the ocean and they are scary like sharks, only a lot smarter than sharks... so let's move on.
I paid extra money so I could experience an extra dimension of the Shark Movie.
I put on my awesome, cool, "somebody take a picture of us right now," 3-D Glasses.
I watched the movie.
I was transported to another world where I experienced amazing things.
I took off my 3-D Glasses.
After that experience, I left the theater and went on with my life... as usual, except that I now have flashbacks to my scary Shark Movie experience.
I remember many of my experiences... and each memory triggers an emotional response. My experiences will mark me; experiences always mark me... but it's my day-to-day practices and life-long patterns that change me over time... for better or worse.
It's foolish to say, "This experience won't effect me." Addiction Counselors label that Exceptional Thinking: "I'd never tell someone else to do this, but I can do it and I'll be fine. I'd never recommend somebody else try this, but I'm sure I can do it because I am not like other people. I am exceptional. I am the exception to the rule."
Those driven by experiences leap from one quick fix to the next, from one experience to another. Life becomes a non-stop search for significance, thrills, satisfaction and meaning. The problem is, experiences don't last. They have consequences but they don't satisfy our thirst for significance.
Experiences alone won't give us what we need so GCC is spending the next ten weeks learning to live the life that Jesus called "abundant." We're focusing on each of The 10 Commandments with two questions: "What is this commandment?" and "How does Jesus help us do it?"
Living the abundant life is different than knowing about it.
It's time to begin practicing the life we were made for.
John 10:9-10 - I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture. The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
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