First of all, we need to understand what life really means. There are many diverse definitions but I intend to dwell on three definitions that I made up:

1. An account or course of activities and series of events that distinguishes a functional thing from non-functional ones.
2. The aspect of a subject’s being that causes a quickened expression of animation and energy. This aspect qualifies the subject to participate in well-defined actions.
3. The characteristic mode of manifestation that influences and motivates a subject’s actions and defines conditions that exist around the subject. This mode nourishes, restores, preserves, revives, sustains and repairs the subject as long as those set conditions are satisfied.

From the three definitions above, it is clear that life comes in various classes, and the functional expressions of the subjects of each class are bound by their actions (or inactions) relative to that particular uniting class of life.

I will give an example. A boy who grew up on the Hawaiian Islands probably began swimming at the tender age of two or three years. By the time he is 12, if he is healthy, he can survive underwater for up to 6 or 7 minutes, which is an extraordinary feat for someone like you who (probably) dabbles in and out of a life of swimming (maybe some weekends when you have the time). An easier example is that of a cat that is caged and fed with grass. No matter how hungry it is, it would rather die of starvation than eat the grass! The Hawaiian boy and the cat, each one has a LIFE that patterns its actions, decisions and general aspect. So then, if life ever appears not to be working out, it should be obvious that you’re on the wrong lane altogether, or you are just fooling yourself!

[size=16pt]I know someone who decided to live for God, and gave his life to Jesus Christ in prayer two years ago. This guy used to be very “hot” with the former aspect of his life, and he never ignored any of his principles: he knew his codes of conduct in every aspect of his life. He had his rep schedule (which involved planning how to make a substantive name for himself, often an image that was larger than life), girl schedule (flirting, dates, strategy, deception, seduction, sex, “dumps”, the whole works), his booze & party schedule, his organized runs schedule (doing whatever he needed to do to get the money he needed to do whatever else he wanted to do), his protégé schedule (where he gets advice from his mentors and sticks to it like a flea on a sore), his study schedule (taking time out to consider how to better himself and beat his competition), and so on. Funny enough, he became a Christian and… nothing. He expected his new Life to work like magic. “But no”, I say, “He’s meant to work it out!” Why do people live beyond expectations outside Christ, and now in Christ expect things to fall into their laps without carrying out their simple prerequisite duties: Love God, and Walk by Faith?[/size]

There are defined schedules in the Christian Life as well, and there are codes of conduct. One big difference is the end-point. For the other types of life, there is only one rule: and it’s the Law of Mirages, as obtains in the desert where you keep on reaching and reaching only to find out that what you’ve got is an empty promise and real satisfaction is further and farther. For the Life in Christ, the rule is the Law of Everlasting Life, and it is manifested in every aspect of living. AS LONG AS YOU LIVE THE LIFE.

Now I will quote Jesus, as he said in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst--not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." [The Message]

Obey your thirst. Drink deep, and stick with Christ.