“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)
In her song, “Just Showed Up for My Own Life” Sarah Groves repeats
this line several times:
“Oh the glory of God is man fully alive.”
But what does it mean to be “fully alive?” How can we achieve that?
What does that look like anyway?
Perhaps a look at the opposite will help.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your
flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against
us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2: 13-14)
So, to be dead is to have all our sins counted against us—to be crushed
by the guilt and regret of not being what our souls know we are
intended to be. And, to be without hope of ever being what we truly
want to be in our hearts.
Being dead is to let the cares and worries of this world steal our joy, kill
our love for God and for one another and destroy our witness to a lost
and hurting world.
But being alive is to be forgiven and freed by the perfect, holy sacrifice
of Jesus. We are made alive, not through any of our own works, but by
what Jesus did for us! All we have to do is believe.
And when we look around us, how many of us truly do not already have
an abundant life?
For those of you who are reading this, how many of you truly lack for
what you genuinely need? When was the last time any of us went to
bed hungry, or without a roof over our heads, or without clothes to
wear?
Who among us is not provided with a sunrise every morning and stars
to light the night sky every evening? The green plants still grow and
provide food. The rain still falls on the just and the unjust. The glory of
God is displayed in His creation all around us.
Indeed, we are truly blessed beyond anything any generation has ever
experienced before. When we truly consider what it is we want, it’s
amazing how much of it is stuff we don’t actually need.
Yet, there are those among us who, in the midst of all the blessings
provided by the God of abundance, still feel empty inside.
There are those who still strive to fill that empty place inside with more
stuff– more things, more success, more power, more money.
We are the great cloud of witnesses who can speak the truth in love—
the truth that Jesus promises and does provide not only an abundant,
fulfilling life, but a peace that passes all understanding and, eventually,
an everlasting life of joy beyond what we can ever hope or dream.