JOHN 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Have we ever taken the time to ponder today’s scripture with depth? What I mean by that is a hard look at our lives through the lens of what Jesus says about the life He came to give. Still yet another way to look at today’s scripture is with the question, “Am I living the abundant life my Lord promised?” Well, let’s start with context and a definition.

When Jesus makes this profound statement and promise, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”, it is the context of the metaphor of the Shepherd – sheep relationship He has with His people. If we are to experience the life He promised, we must first possess the spiritual life He promises and that without being a willfully rebellious sheep of His pasture. Sheep that need constant correction from the Good Shepherd’s rod due to their lack of submission and drifting from Him will not know abundant life. Oh, they have spiritual life through His Gospel, but it won’t be a joyful life if they refuse to follow Him by becoming entangled with the world’s way of defining and living life. So, if we want abundant life in Christ, it begins with a total submission of life to Christ. Now the definition.

The word “abundantly” is rich in meaning; to be extraordinary, remarkable, profuse. Does that describe our walks with the Lord Jesus? Or would words like “routine, dull, mundane, or stale” be more like it? Well, if so, we don’t have to stay there for the Lord promises abundant life; a life full of joy, purpose, contentment, influence, and even excitement – the ways He intends the Christian life to be lived. And the paths to its fulfillment are two . . .

First, be convinced, not in word only but in pursuit, that apart from living under the complete Lordship of Christ, taking His yoke daily, we won’t truly know the abundance and fullness of the spiritual life God provides for us. In a practical way, this means we don’t allow the world to replace the Word on the seat of affections in our lives. Remember, we cannot love the world and the Word. The Apostle John warns us “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). To achieve the abundant life, we must make a conscious and daily decision that Jesus is either Lord of all areas in our lives or He is not Lord at all in our lives.

The next path to the abundant life the Lord promises is diligence in seeking His means toward the abundant life. God has ordained we will find Him when we seek Him with our whole hearts through His Word, prayer, and sharing both with His people. An early church father, Jerome, once said, “To neglect scripture is to neglect Christ.” That means the Word, prayer, and engaging both with His children is the way, not a way but the way, to the abundant life promised. Without the self-discipline, self-control, and self-denial to be daily in the Word and prayer to seek Him who is abundant life, it will elude us.

So, real life is not just being alive in a physical sense. It is the abundant life Jesus promises. And not only is it a promise, it defines what the Christian life is truly to be – one of overflowing joy lived with divine purpose under the divine power of Him who is abundant life.

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me for the way too many times I try to find my satisfaction in life in this life and not Christ.”

QUOTE: “Only the Author of Life can give true and lasting purpose and contentment in life.”