“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” –Howard Thurman, Philosopher

I absolutely adore this thought from Thurman. This world is in need of people who have come alive. But I agree with this for more than one reason and in more than one way.

My mind first agreed with this quote because I see so many people simply following the current of life wherever it takes them in a mindless state. We walk around with our heads down, headphones on, checking our calendars to see what’s next on the agenda or how quickly we can be done with people for the day.

People are fearful of a Zombie Apocalypse which is why shows like "The Walking Dead" are so incredibly popular, but I think it’s already upon us.

When was the last time you did something simply because you could—because you had breath in your lungs and legs that moved you and a heart that pumps blood through your body without as much as a second thought?

When I am teaching students, my peers or my superiors about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the impact it has on the way we interact with those around us, I live in that moment. When I am singing praises to the Creator of the universe, I live in that moment. When I hear the laughter of friends, I live in that moment.

We’re not living. We’re not finding that thing that makes us supercharged and then doing all that we can to make that thing a part of our daily lives. But as Thurman said, that’s what the world needs.

As I pondered Thurman’s words further, all I could think of were Paul’s words in Ephesians, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sinsin which you once walked, following the course of this world…”

If you are not familiar with the Bible, let me try to give you a quick synopsis: Paul is a man who wrote a lot of the New Testament (the part of the Bible where Jesus came about and then the rest of history.) But before he was a Biblical author, Paul went by a different name; his name was Saul. He tortured, harassed and murdered people who believed in Jesus. One day, Saul had an encounter with Jesus and was blinded. After a series of events, Saul began to see the truth of who Jesus is and he stopped hating on those who followed Jesus’ teachings. With this life change, he got a new name: Paul. So, Paul visited a lot of places to tell them about Jesus and a while after he left these places, he would write letters to the people in these towns who believed in Jesus. This particular letter, which we refer to as Ephesians, was written to the people of the town called Ephesus.

Paul understands 100 percent what it is like to walk while we are dead, which is why when he tells us the following, it’s important that we listen.

“ButGod, being rich in mercy,because of the great love with which He loved us,even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been savedthrough faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast,” Ephesians 2:4-8.

If you have not read Ephesians 2 in a while, or if you have never read it, I encourage you to stop reading this article and read it now.

This concept of us somehow being dead while simultaneously breathing is not an unfamiliar thought throughout the Bible.

"But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives, ” 1 Timothy 5:6.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh ofthe Son of Man and drink his blood, youhave no life in you," 1 Timothy 5:6. (If you’re new to the Bible, this one sounds super janky. Feel free to comment below to learn more about it!)

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross,” Colossians 2:13-14. (We can save the circumcision talk for another time.)

As Thurman has reminded us that the world needs people who live for that thing that makes us come alive, Paul has called us to walk in the truth that we can be and have been made alive through Christ.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving,” Colossians 2:6-7