"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." - John 10:10 (NKJV) emphasis added
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10 (NIV) emphasis added
I have always believe in this verse. It's a great motivation to bring people to know Christ. And it's completely true! There's more to life than 9 to 5. There's a greater purpose in all of our lives than the mundane. As Switchfoot puts it, "We were meant to live for so much more." We were created for a purpose higher than ourselves. We have a greater calling; the only decision is whether we want it and are willing to live for it or not.
For quite a few years now, I have struggled to properly explain this verse. What does it mean by life to the full? What is abundant life actually about? For too long, I've always believe it was about doing what we like and that a life well lived was one where we get all our rewards here on Earth. And it's always been a struggle to properly answer this one when you know that living out your dream can kill you. Or worse, you may not know what you are passionate about!
I mean, it's easy when you have a specific dream or passion. You have a pretty good idea of what you want to do. But how about those whose reason in life is not so well defined? Those that God puts a heart to do something vague. Those who God has not revealed their passion yet? Or those whose dream will lead to their death?
I now realize that an abundant life does not mean a good life by the world's standard. It's not about winning, it's about succeeding. And there's a difference. You can be a success but a loser. You can live life to the full even though you die a pauper. The abundant life God promises is not living towards easy living or earthly rewards; it's living towards God's will and heavenly rewards.
The problem I had was I was too focused on the earthly blessings that God will pour out. Yes, He will still pour out blessings to us when we do His will here! In the Bible, He shows us this very clearly through the life of King David, Job and Joseph. All 3 followed God and the Bible notes how they were all bless with position, fame, fortune, etc. God will bless His people here on Earth too!
But then, we must also remember that living for God will not always reflect in earthly blessings. Moses brought the law to Israel but he spent 40 years in the wilderness. The prophets were not the richest people, nor the most powerful. Many of the early saints were crucified or stoned or killed. Jesus himself is the best example of an abundant life where the rewards are only seen in Heaven! One of the reasons He came was to die on the cross for us. I mean, imagine that: living to die.
What we must remember is that abundant life isn't about us, it's about God. It's about doing His will and executing His plan. Now that's life to the full! Why is it so? Because abundant life means living a successful life. It means satisfying that inner urge that says, "There's more to life than the ordinary." It means obedience to all that God says to do, even if it is dangerous, embarrassing, or completely insane.
It means giving up our dreams, our passion, our whims for His great plan for our lives. It means living for His name and willing to die for it. Because at the end of the day, it isn't about us. Life was never about us anyways. It was all about God. We are just the beneficiaries of His blessings for the Earth. We doing His plan will result in us storing Heavenly treasures.
To do this, we need a major focus shift. Today's world has always told us that it's about now and it's about you. Well, they're lying. It's about eternity and it's about God. It's not about doing something for today or tomorrow or to last the next few decades. It's about doing something that will have an everlasting change. A change that cannot be swept under the carpet. A change that is constantly permanent and not temporary.
And it will be very hard! It's going to be extremely difficult because we as humans, we won't see all the fruits of our labour! We may not ever hear a good job, well done, thank you, or other words like that from others! But if we're living for God, we will hear it from Him. And we will be able to enjoy this all from our place in Heaven.
That's the promise, that's the reality. We can't see it now, we may feel it's all for nothing but undrestand this: God sees. Focusing on eternity will cost us our lives. It will be tough. It won't be very rewarding nor will we enjoy all the blessings related to it here on Earth. It will be a thankless job as far as the world is concern. In fact, the world may even think that we've lost! But we would have gotten an acknowledgement from God and more importantly, we've made a step in winning the war for God. That... is the only thing that matters anyways.
