A Life You Don’t Want to Escape

Read The Daily:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – John 10:10

I’ll be real with you—there are days I want to check out. Days where I think, If I could just unplug from all of this for a while… I’m not talking about a vacation or a weekend off. I mean escape. Like—check out, shut down, disappear for a bit—kind of escape. But here’s the thing: every time I chase that feeling, it doesn’t actually fix anything. I come back to the same stress, same frustrations, same inner emptiness. The escape doesn’t work—because what I really need isn’t less stress. It’s a fuller life.

That’s what Jesus came to offer. Not an easier life, but a better one. In the message this week, I talked about how the self-life keeps us on this exhausting treadmill of performance, pleasure, and possessions. Always chasing more, always feeling less. But Jesus flips the script: instead of performance, He offers approval (Up). Instead of using people, He teaches us to serve (In). And instead of grabbing more, He invites us to give more (Out). And you know what happens when you live like that? You stop looking for a way out—because you’ve found a way in.

You stop looking for a way out—because you’ve found a way in

I’ve seen this happen in my own life. The more I give my energy to what matters most—being loved by God, loving people, living on mission—the less I feel the urge to escape. When I pour into my purpose, I’m not left empty. I’m filled. It’s wild how backwards that sounds, right? The world says rest comes from getting away. But Jesus shows us rest is found in leaning in.

So next time you’re tempted to bail, give up, or zone out—pause. Ask yourself: What am I really running from? Because the life Jesus offers isn’t one you’ll want to get away from—it’s the one you’ve been looking for all along.

Prayer for the Day

God what are you  showing me?  What am I going to do about it?
God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?
Make sure you complete the reading or comment today.

Read The New Testament In A Year

4 x 6 Plan | Read: Mark 8:27-38 & 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  Mark 8:27-38

But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.  1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Read More – Bible Project Overviews: Mark, 1 Corinthians