(John 10:10)
What is your life? How much does your life mean to you? What would you be prepared to give in exchange for your life? Anything? Everything?
These are big, big questions and not easy to answer. In this world we know that the average life span of a person these days is about 80-85 years, and much less in some under-developed nations. People are born and die every day and many do not give much thought about their lives other than to live it to the fullest. There is a commonly held belief among the people of the world that you are only here for a short time and then you are gone so you might as well make the most of it while you can.
But what if they are wrong? What if there was something more to life in this world? What could or would you give to gain access to the greater life if there were one on offer? Well there is a greater life on offer and it is given for free. You can’t buy it or exchange anything for it, just accept it as a gift from God. And as we will see, the life He offers in Jesus Christ is not like the life we know in this world.
Life in This World
The apostle James wrote in James 4:13-15
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”-14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
This is possibly the most accurate representation of how people in this world live their lives, especially in this modern day and age.
Your life in this world is a “…mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” We get our 80-85 years on this world to live a life and then we are gone. That is what life in this world is like. Temporary, physical, full of problems, worries and issues, suffering with sickness, putting up with sin and evil all around us, trying to eke out a living to keep the wolf from the door, and then passing away as if we had never been here.
Look at the cemeteries and the graves marked with headstones. Look at the names and read the lives of those people that have been reduced to a sentence or two. How many are remembered after a generation or two?
When you think of it like this, life in this world is rather depressing. You could be forgiven for asking, “What’s the point?” We’ll there is a point to this life and understanding the point is what can lead you to finding a Life in Abundance.
Life in Abundance
Life in Abundance is not about the accumulation of money, assets, things and the stuff of this life. It is all about a life with God and living with Jesus Christ. There are plenty of churches who preach an “Abundance Ministry” that is based upon having the possessions of this life. That could not be further from the truth. The Lord has promised to provide for our needs and that His people would never be begging in the streets, but He did not promise the riches of this world or the stuff of this life.
His promise is about the riches to come in the next life when we are part of His family and living with The Lord. The abundance comes through a life lived without sin, fear, hatred, sickness, infirmity, death and all the evils of this world. Look at what Paul writes about the life of abundance that we will receive when we are in the Kingdom of God.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
No one is able to even conceive in their wildest dreams or imagination what The Lord is preparing for His people who love Him.
Now I don’t know about you, but I can conceive some pretty amazing stuff in my thoughts, imaginations and day dreamings. But The Lord has said that even in my wildest, off the wall and out of this world fantasies I could not come up with the things that He has prepared.
Why? Because His kingdom will be perfect and we humans don’t even know what true perfection really even looks like. Imagine your favourite fruit and the times that you have had them when all of the conditions were just right and that year’s harvest was the most succulent, tasty and delicious it has ever been. You compare every other year when it was not quite that good and you hope next year the harvest will be like that standout year. But in the Lords kingdom I imagine not only will the fruit be like that standout year, it will be even better and there will be no dud years when it’s tastes bland or of poor quality. It will be perfection and will be greater than the best year you could ever remember or contemplate.
Now imagine everything about your life being like that perfect fruit. And you won’t grow old or have any sickness or illnesses. You won’t have enemies and everyone will care for everyone else and all relationships will be built on love, peace, truth, mutual care, understanding and true friendship. No back biting, no bitterness, no jealousy, no envy, no arguments, no fighting and the list goes on and on and on.
This is just a barest of bare glimpses of what a life in abundance might look like. And if I am wrong here, know this one thing, it will be far better than anything I can describe or even imagine!
Seeking life
Which brings me back to the present life we live in this world. We are not going to get this perfect life in abundance now or in this world. It is not possible because there is evil in this world that will attempt to destroy anything of The Lord.
But we do have a glimpse of life in this world, even if it is only 80-85 years, if you are lucky to get that much. It is my opinion that The Lord has allowed us to glimpse life for this short period of time so that we can make a decision. We can chose to seek the true life that’s on offer, which is the life in abundance through Jesus Christ. Or we can choose to ignore it and only have the days that are allotted in this time.
In the end the choice is ours. No one, not even God himself will make the choice or force the choice upon us. It is ours to make and is the one real decision all of mankind has to make. Every person in their life will need to make the decision whether to follow the ways of God or to reject Him.
Choose Jesus and receive the life in abundance, not just in the next life in Gods kingdom, but there is abundance to be had now too. I am not talking about the abundance of possessions, riches or wealth that some preach, but the abundance of a life lived in accordance with the truth of the scriptures. He gives us abundantly to solve our problems, provide our needs, give insights into what is happening and to help us in our down times. He lifts us up, rebuilds relationships, opens our minds to receive the truth and best of all gives us of himself in Jesus Christ. The abundance of this world is like filthy rags by comparison.
I encourage everyone to see the life of abundance in Jesus Christ. The alternative is less than a shadow of what He offers us … for free.
(Photo sourced from stock.xchng taken by Belovodchenko Antonio)
Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
