The rest of John 10:10 says; "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (TNIV)
What comes to mind when you read that? I mean think about what you think makes your life full, enjoyable, complete... Then ask yourself these questions as we discuss the rest of this verse. Are the things I think make my life full, really what God wants for me? Are those things consistent to what the Bible teaches about the way we should live our lives?
For me this verse is one that has always been around me during my journey with God. It was this verse that happened to be the first message I ever heard Rob Bell give and ironically I don't remember a thing he said, but I remember I wasn't real impressed with him at the time. Well much has changed since then as now I am a huge fan of his. Anyway, the verse itself was inspiring enough that I have always wrestled with it.
The first part of the verse is easy to get... Jesus came so that we may have life, because we are dead spiritually (Side note here; the Bible never separates physical life and spiritual life like we do) until we accept/believe in Christ. But the confusion begins in the second part of the verse; "and have it to the full".
What does Jesus mean when He says have life to the full? I've certainly read this and thought it meant all the things I think make me happy; The newest gadget, nice cars, house, the big TV, money, nice clothes, winning Bengals season, etc. And although many of those things give me pleasure for a time, they never seem to "fill my life".
What I've learned is that God isn't in the stuff business. I'm not saying stuff is bad, I'm just saying that isn't God's priority. I'm learning that the more I know Christ, the more I open myself up to Him, the more I realize how much He loves me... The more I want to be like Him, the more I want to know Him, the more I want to love Him and out of that attitude my life can start to reflect Christ.
When my life starts to look more like the one who created me, then my life has purpose. When we have a purpose or as we tend to say; "I know why I am here". Once we start to realize why were here and start to walk that out, then our lives start to be full...
Do you know what your purpose is?
Are you living your life chasing after pleasures?
What do you need to do differently to start or grow in your purpose?
I'd love to hear your thoughts...
Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people give up on God because He doesn't give them what they believe are the desires of their hearts? I think this goes hand in hand with having life to the full. We have an earthly expectation, but nobody knows our hearts better than the One who created us. He knows the desires of our hearts better than we do and He knows how to give us life to the full.
What so many miss is that it isn't here on earth. It is the eternity that He promises in the bible. In comparison to that, this life is nothing. This world has nothing for me. The desire of my heart IS to have life to the full, and to have it to the full is to have it eternally.
Thanks for the comment Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about Psalm 37:4 is that as we "Delight in the Lord" God reveals what our "desires of our hearts" are...
Good stuff!