ABUNDANCE

John 10:10 – The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in ABUNDANCE (to the full, till it overflows).

This one small sentence speaks volumes to me. First, Jesus is saying that there are two forces in our world. There is an evil force that Jesus calls the thief. The thief comes only, not for any other reason, but to steal (to take things away from us), to kill (to actually murder us), and to destroy (demolish anything of any importance in our lives, including our loved ones).

Then we see another Force in the universe, One that came to give us life because we were dead in our sins before He came. Christ then says something you may have missed. He didn't just come to save you from your sins and guarantee you a free ticket into heaven when you die in 50 or 60 years. He came to give you an enjoyable, abundant life that overflows and spills out of you and onto others. Abundance means plentiful, more than enough. It's sad to see believers walking around in depression or bondage just waiting until they can cash in their "get out of hell free card." If that were the plan then why couldn't Jesus just save us from our sins and zap us straight into eternity with Him? Why does He leave us here?

My guess is that He wants us to learn to trust Him and love Him in a very unique way. One that involves pure faith. Once He sees that we are willing and able vessels then He does something so precious that you have to experience it to believe it. He actually uses us as His ambassadors, as His spokesperson. He trusts us enough with His word and His spirit to send us out into this world (which starts in your own home, by the way) on His behalf. What an awesome job. Is there someone in your life that you would trust to that extent? What if you had a life or death message that had to be delivered to a specific person at a very precise moment? This is deeper and more significant than anything you've ever been a part of. Who would you trust to deliver this all important piece of information? Would they represent you correctly?

When we think of the abundant life we tend to think in terms of the material realm. How about having an abundance of joy, more than enough peace, and overflowing love. This is what it's all about. Let God fill you to the brim with His very presence, with His love and joy until you have enough for yourself and all those around you. The more we come into God's presence for a refill, the more we have for others. This is truly abundant living!