Abundant Life

You are exisiting. Your reading this post confirms my answer. But are you living? The difference changes what we make of life. It makes a world of difference. When we exisit, we merely are breathing and moving about. We have fun most of the time but we always don't feel "filled up". When we live, though, we are excited, pumped about life, wanting to change the world for better. Filled up and complete with God. Every day brings promises, hope, and excitment, small joys along the way that if we were merely living, we would have missed. Christ came into the world so that, we could not only live, but have life to the fullest. Jesus told us in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Joh 10:10 (New Century Version)
A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.

John 10:10 (New King James Version)
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 (New Living Translation)
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

He didn't just come so that we could have ever-lasting life but also a great life here. Down here, he doesn't just want us to be doing fine or okay. Note the word abundantly, which means plentiful: present in great quantities 2. well-supplied: providing a more than plentiful supply of something 3. found in quantity: existing in large quantities. 1 In Hebrew, the word Shefa plainly does means abundance.

John's gospel ("gospel" means good news) speaks much about life. The Greek word perissos/perisson, translated by "abundance", has several meanings, of which I shall mention two. It expresses excess, that which is extraordinary in size or in beauty, that which is excessively large or numerous. It can also be translated as that which goes over the amount, that which is extra, surplus or left over. The term also has a nuance that implies superfluousness. Besides Jn 10.10, the word is found in four other passages in the New Testament: Mt 5.37, 47; Mk 6.51; Rom 3.1; 2 Cor 9.1. 3

What do we do to get this life that is so...fulfulling that some I know have but I only long for? Ask God for that overflowing, fulfilling life. God tells us that if we don't ask, we don't receive. He longs for us to have the best life that we possibly could here. A life all about Him. An abundant life. But we have to ask Him.

What did Jesus mean in John 10:10:
“. . .I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Why don’t more Christians experience abundance? Because, the key word here is “might.” 2

Go to the One who can give it to you. God is holding out a great thing to us saying, "I have something that you are missing and will like so much. And all you have to do is ask Me. Will you?" Nothing in life can fulfill or complete us. Nothing. For a while, it might seem like it can. But in the end, we are left questioning what we don't have. What can fill our void? God is offering us a gift that nothing else can offer us. Always, the closer you are to God, the more fulfilling and happy you will be in life. Yes, you'll have your hard times-Jesus promises us that-but the closer we become to God, the more we will be able to trust Him when life does take a "wrong turn" for us. Walking with God and obeying Him is another way we can enjoy our lives. Will you accept it?

1. Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
2. https://www.debtfreearmy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=266:what-did-jesus-mean-in-john-1010&catid=35:rich-thoughts&Itemid=79
3.http://www.warc.ch/24gc/rw024/01.html