4 Ways To Live A Fluid Life

Can I be honest with you? I like routine.

I can eat the same meal at the same restaurant every week — enjoying it as though it was my first experience. I strategically set my car keys in the same place every day when I arrive home. I pick up my green tea at the same establishment — where the same people serve me. Please don’t move “my” tube of toothpaste or use “my” floss that has been left in the same place day-after-day. We all have our side of the bed or special seat on the sofa where we watch the same program week after week. And oh, please don’t move MY remote!

I can become so fixed in what I do and even how I do it.

These patterns seem to be etched deep within my soul, so much so that I can miss out on God’s very best for me. But here’s my dilemma. I’m learning that, to be in a position to experience what is truly good from God — a life where the fullness of God is fully present and where I’m fully satisfied in Him — it may require me to move from my fixed way of doing life to a fluid life, a life willing to do things differently.

I must willingly resolve to remain tethered to the authority of God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, being ready to change on a dime all of me and my comforts, to experience all of Him.

In Luke 5:36-39 we find the familiar words (parable) of Christ that reads:

No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.

I know this passage is most likely very familiar to many of you, but let me dive in and reflect upon four principles which have helped me move from a life fixed on me, mine and how I do things, to a fluid life that’s fixed on Him and how He may want to do things new.

4 WAYS TO LIVE A FLUID LIFE

1. LET THE NEW BE NEW.

A fluid life is willing to let the new be new and the old be old. Living a fluid life values both the new and the old. One is not necessarily always better than the other. It’s a life that’s honest with itself, realizing that the new garments of God cannot be altered to fit within the old but rather the old can help us live a better new.

No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.  (Luke 5:36)

2. LET LOSS INSPIRE.

A fluid life somehow finds inspiration through potential loss. It’s not stuck and paralyzed by fear of what could be lost but rather on what could happen if change does NOT occur. When we live a fluid life we count the total costs because we realize if we don’t move/change we could lose both the thing we hold onto (the old) and the thing God desires to release to us (the new).

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. (Luke 5:37)

3. LET CHANGE HAPPEN. 

A fluid life learns to accept the must of life. We will always want to let life remain the way it is, especially when all is well. Yet there will always come a point in our lives that we must and our fluidity or lack of fluidity is challenged! There comes a time when we must let things go… We must overcome fear… We must have faith… We must trust God… We must change our wineskins!

But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. (Luke 5:38)

4. LET DREAMS COME TRUE.

A fluid life learns to dream – and even dream big! In verse 39 we find the word wishes which means to will, desire, choose, have in mind, to be fond of doing, to have pleasure in, to take delight in. We can wish for the old or we can wish for the new. But we must learn that fluidness requires us to become fond of doing those new things we cannot see but God has already seen and desires for us. We must seek to know the mind of God for ourselves, our families, our careers, and our ministries (1 Corinthians 2). We must simply never stop dreaming big, for in the bigness of our dreams, God shows up in really, really big ways! So big that it causes us to remain in awe of Him!

And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough. (Luke 5:39)

So, if you’re like me, wanting to keep things just the way they are, I want to encourage you to never settle in. Let’s remain true to the Text (the Authority of Scripture) and willing to remain confident in the character of our God who still walks daily with us in our gardens of life. Who still leads us by His Spirit as a cloud by day and a fire by night. Let us remain portable so whenever our Lord says pick up our tents, we are prepared to move at His command. Let us live lives that are fluid, ready to obey His every command so that we may live lives that are truly good enough!