I’ve been spending time reading through the New Testament letters in The Message. I’m really digging the fresh perspective Eugene Peterson offers. I came across this passage in 1 Thessalonians 1:8:

“The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message!”

Man, I want this more than anything. I want to become the embodiment and demonstration of God’s fullness and reign in all aspects of my life. I want to live my life as if it were Jesus living my life in my place. I want to have so much of God’s character that my life can bear up under the weight God’s power. I want my life to be a window, a sign and an agent of God’s incredibly rich and full life that is available by being Jesus’ apprentice. Like the Thessalonian followers of Christ, I want my life to literally become the Message.