Abundant

October 18th

Today's Bible Reading

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The followers of Jesus flourish. They thrive. They obtain life and live it abundantly. Many things will attempt to dismantle this life. Things that will attempt to topple us. Things that are bent on destroying us, But yet believers experience life to the full.

Jesus contrasts a crook with a caretaker. He distinguishes a thief with a shepherd. He compares one who comes to rob with the other who comes to redeemer, one who comes to slay with the other that comes to save and one who comes to capture while the other comes to care for us.

He affirms that He came to bring life. He came to give abundant life to those who are His. The implication is that death was dominate. It had held us in bondage. It had held us captive. It was robbing us of life. It was waiting to destroy us. We could not individually escape its grasp. We were born in sin. All of us were under its death sentence. We were devoid of life and doomed to die. An arduous existence. Jesus comes to destroy death. He came to bring life among the lifeless. What He gives we cannot gain. In Him we have deliverance for those dead in their sin. By His life we have life. Through His death we live. We have Life, abundant life.

Yet it seems that many who follow Jesus encounter what appears to be a life of disparity. They have a life void of life. They are reviled, ridiculed, and rejected. They are beaten for their beliefs, punished for their profession and they are severely persecuted. They are far from flourishing, yet they do. No matter what, they thrive. The reason for their contentment is not contingent on their circumstances, but on Christ. He bestows life. He brings us to life from our spiritual deadness. He fosters fullness of life as we follow Him. He gives us a life of happiness in our holiness. He brings us a life of joy in the journey and ushers in a life that overshadows any obstacle. Is not diminished by difficult. It is not squelched by surroundings or suppressed by suffering. In Him we have abundance through adversity. Jesus brings a life full and fabulous beyond our failings. They are shepherded by a glorious Savior. He is constantly giving, guiding and guarding us along the way. It is a life of abundance, now and forever.

Today thank God for the abundant life that He has given us. Ask Him to help you be reminded daily of this truth.