“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” NKJV
What is the abundant life? What did Jesus mean when He said He came that we may life to the full? Did he mean a bigger house? Is that what the abundant life is about? What about a nicer car? Or a new pair of shoes or new outfit? If we posses these things have we grasped this scripture?
A friend of mine just got back from living in Africa for three months. We were talking and she was telling about all the stuff she saw God do, and the things she learned while she was over there. She was telling me about how she had to use a hole in the ground to go to the bathroom and how street kids would throw rocks at her and her friends. After she was done talking I asked her if she missed living in America? If she missed her bed or a toilet? She said she didn’t much at all. That she didn’t even want to leave.
If you or I lived in that kind of situation would we think we were living “the abundant life?” Maybe my friend realized something we need to learn. That we can live with far less than we think we can. Wayne Meyers says “The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost it all.”The acquisition of things is not evil but maybe we have bought into the lie that life is much more about what we get then what we give.
Maybe we have traded the Abundant Life for the American Dream?
The Abundant Life is about our purpose much more than it is about our possessions. This life Jesus came to give us he lived; a life that was given not kept. I believe the Abundant life is lived, not purchased.
May God open our eyes to what He meant when he wanted us to live life to the full. May He open our eyes to the needs around us, and may we seize those opportunities with joy!
“Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life — not by our standard of living; by our measure of giving — not by our measure of wealth; by our simple goodness — not by our seeming greatness.”-William Arthur Ward
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”-Winston Churchill
