Life
"I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness." (John 10:10b GNT)
"This is the life."
Maybe you've made this comment while you were on vacation or in some other relaxed setting. (It usually comes with a contented sigh.) I can pretty much count on hearing it from my daughters when we're at a family lake cottage we all love. They'll be out on the water in tubes they've tethered to a raft so they don't drift away, floating lazily without worry and basking in the summer sun with the special kind of freedom that comes from being a student on summer vacation. (Did I just sigh out loud?)
"This is the life."
Jesus was big on life, having given His so we could gain ours.
He came and gave so that we could have "life in all its fullness" (John 10:10b).
Life full of power (2 Timothy 1:7).
Life full of hope (Hebrews 6:19).
Life full of faith (Hebrews 10:22).
Life full of joy (John 15:11).
Life full of purpose (Romans 8:28).
You may have heard the question, "Is your glass half-full or half-empty?" Whichever way you look at it, I know I tend to settle for half where the benefits of life in Christ are concerned: partly-charged power; fingers-crossed hope; fair-weather faith; as-long-as joy; good-enough purpose. All of which the enemy likes, because as long we're settling, he counts us as safe.
But Jesus is not a "half" kind of a Savior. He is bubbling up, spilling over the top, running down the sides. And the full life He's talking about isn't just for someday in the future; it's for this day in the present. This powerful, hopeful, faithful, joyful, purposeful life is the life He holds out to us now while He leads us by the hand to the fullest of full.
"It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life" (Revelation 21:6).
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!