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One Saturday afternoon, I was relaxing inside my home. I heard a knock at the door. There was a young man going door to door. He wasn’t selling anything, but rather promoting a well-known charity. Fair enough. But what surprised me was his greeting. And very confidently this young guy said to me or asked me, ‘Are you living the dream?’ It threw me a bit off guard. I wasn’t expecting the question. Are you living the dream?

You know, I’m part of the baby boomer generation and the sense we don’t usually talk like that. But anyway, it made me think nonetheless what I meant. What I I think he meant was How is life going for you? Are you enjoying life? I think that’s what he was meaning, living the dream. Quite an intriguing topic. Was I living the ideal life that I wanted for myself? Well, that phrase living the dream has become mainstream, of course.

What on earth does it mean?

Maybe I’ve been missing something but living the dream as I thought about it means a lot of different things. To some, it’s a life spent relaxing on a beach with endless supply of alcohol to others that could be travelling all over the world, meeting new people, experiencing 100 different cultures. To others, it’s a dream job where you get paid to do the things you love. McQuinn Research says that almost one in four Australians that’s 23% believe that they definitely are, or mostly living the dream.

But not everyone is content with their life. It the research said that 80 per cent of working Australians are stressed about money finances one in four actually are stressed. That’s quite a concern. Generation X generation y the most stressed. They’re stressed about money finance and they’re the generation most likely to struggle with planning. But half of Gen y that’s about 53 per cent finds. Planning their life somewhat hard.

Two in five of the Gen X Australians feel the same way. That’s 44 per cent. While us me, the baby boomers are the most likely to find planning easy to do 25 per cent of us. It seems that owning your own home is no longer the big deal. Living the dream is really about two things, lifestyle and financial freedom. And who doesn’t want to enjoy a pleasant lifestyle, financial freedom to have the very best.

That’s a great thing. A dream come true. But really is the average person living the dream? I think not. Homelessness, poverty are there with this big time? Do you think the guy who’s sleeping in the park every night is happy about that? Of course not. There is another way, though, to look at this.

And I want to say that God had a dream for your life. It’s nothing to do with money or how good looking you might be. It’s about discovering God for yourself. When God spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah way back, he was speaking to you and me as well. Jeremiah 29 Verse 11 to 13, for I know the plans I have for you plans for peace, not evil. To give you a future and a hope you will pray, says God. I will listen. You will look for me intently and you will find me, and I think that’s God’s promise or God’s dream for you. It’s far better than any dream that you might have.

It’s comprehensive, full of positive feelings. Great news, one of my favourite authors, CS Lewis, said. It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, not too weak. We’re halfhearted creatures, he said, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition. When infinite joy is offered to us like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he can’t imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the Sea, we are far too easily pleased.

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That’s what C. As Lewis said in one of his books, The Bible says that God has put eternity in our hearts, the dream of another world so that we won’t be content with this broken world. That’s why we admire people like Mother Teresa, who had nothing in the sense of material blessings. And yet she moved the hearts and minds of millions of people. She was living the dream. It was Henry Ford who said, The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do and then do it.

And if you’re looking for a destiny, God is the one who can show you very clearly what it is. We can never find it on our own.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, thank you that living the dream is possible as we approach you. And, Lord, I want you to help me discover that dream and for my friends as well. Amen.

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