Are you Living Life to the Full?
What one thing, if it got better, would make the biggest difference?
For many people, New Year’s Resolutions are all about changing the things in your life that if they got better, would make a big difference.
So our New Year’s resolutions include things like eating healthier, joining a GYM, getting more exercise, but here’s one that you might not have thought to put on your list…
DRINK MORE WATER.
They say that our bodies are 60% water!
Generally speaking, they say you can last up to around 3 weeks without food. Some of you have a hard time imagining going 3 hours without food! But it’s possible to go for a while without eating. But you can’t survive without water. In fact, if you try to go more than 3 days without water you will die.
Water is essential to LIFE.
Drinking more water does everything from boosting your energy levels and brain function to helping digestion and helping you loose weight. Its good for your skin, your joints, and all your vital organs. It will help reduce your headaches and it will boost your productivity!
A while back my wife, Alisha, realized our girls weren’t drinking enough water, so she got them these water bottles that have lines down the side and each line has a time of day. And the idea is that by this time, you should have consumed this much water.
Most of us drink too much coffee, coke, and tea. And those are good. They may or may not be good for you, but they are good! But they are NOT essential.
But water…
WATER is ESSENTIAL to LIFE.
Essential
What happens for many of us though is that we don’t tend to think about what’s essential, we tend to think about what’s either urgent or important.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States. In 1954 he was giving a speech to the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches and he quoted Dr J. Roscoe Miller, president of Northwestern University when he said,
“I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
What happens for so many of us is that we never get to what’s most important because we’re too busy putting out fires dealing with what’s urgent! Until… what’s really important becomes urgent, but by then it’s often too late!
It’s important to study every night so that we’re ready for the test when it comes, but it’s not urgent. Until it is. Then we pull an all-nighter, study until dawn, take the test… and don’t do nearly as well as we could have or should have because what was important wasn’t urgent until it was, but by then it was too late.
It’s important to work on our marriage, to date your wife, to talk about more things than just who’s picking up who after school and what’s for dinner, but it’s not urgent. Until it is. Then we try to go to dinner and a movie. If it’s serious we may try a marriage retreat, counseling, or something like that. And maybe we’ll recover, maybe we won’t. It was important but it wasn’t urgent until it was but by then it was too late.
It’s important for us to teach our kids about what’s most important… and for many of us, that’s Jesus. It doesn’t feel urgent, especially when they’re young. But then one day you look up. They’ve grown up. It wasn’t urgent but now it is.
All those times you skipped church for things that seemed more important, all those times you waited on conversations even though you knew they were important, all those things you thought you would do, talk about, or prioritize at some point but now… It was important but it wasn’t urgent until it was but now you’re worried it might be too late.
What one thing, if it got better, would make the biggest difference?
That’s a question that reveals what’s IMPORTANT. What is ESSENTIAL.
What is Most Important According to Jesus
Jesus was famous for presenting people with the opportunity to make these kinds of choices. Every interaction with Him was another chance to choose a new way forward. Some did, others did not. Some leaned forward with faith. Others stepped back into the life they had always known. But every interaction with Jesus was another opportunity to step into a different kind of life. And those who chose to follow Him found a truth that changed everything for them.
In John 10, Jesus is in Jerusalem talking with religious leaders who oppose him, disciples who have decided to follow him, and no doubt many people who are wanting to crown Him as King and Messiah to lead a revolt.
But Jesus, in this moment, wants to make it crystal clear why He came from heaven to earth and… what’s MOST IMPORTANT.
Jesus says…
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.” – John 10.10
You might wonder, who’s the thief? Who is Jesus talking about?
Is Jesus talking about these religious leaders who are opposing Him? Is he talking about those who came before him who claimed to be the Messiah but were not!? Or is Jesus talking about someone or something else?
Jesus is using the imagery of a shepherd with his sheep that’s familiar to the people he’s talking to in order to describe Himself. Shepherd’s, above all else, take care of and protect their sheep.
The thief may be a wolf, a bear, a lion, or something else… but the shepherd is a trained protector against anything or anyone that might try to steal, kill, or destroy his sheep.
But Jesus didn’t just come as protector and defender of his sheep.
Jesus says…
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” – John 10.10
Another translation says it this way…
“I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it OVERFLOWS].” – John 10.10, AMP
Jesus came so that those who believe in Him would have LIFE and have it to the full. And NOT just full — but OVERFLOWING!
And this is something John talks about over and over again throughout his gospel story.
Jesus + Life
In fact, more than any other gospel writer, John is consumed with the idea that Jesus is Life.
This word for life, it’s the word “zoe” in the original language. Matthew uses the word 7 times in his gospel. Mark uses it 4 times. Luke, 6 times. If you add them up, those three gospel writers use the word zoe, life, 17 times.
John uses the word zoe, LIFE, 32 times in his gospel!
John, more than any of the other gospel writers, is completely fixated on this idea that what Jesus came to offer all of us is not just eternal life in the sense of one day when you die you can go to heaven if you believe in Jesus… what John believes is that if you believe that Jesus is who he says he is, eternal life begins NOW!
Jesus came not so that you will ONE DAY have eternal life, Jesus came so that you might have life and have it abundantly in the here and now!
In the gospel of John, Jesus says…
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3.16
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. (Not one day will have, but have now in the present. Present tense!) They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” – John 5.24
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” – John 6.35
“For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” – John 6.40
The list goes on and on and on… Jesus has come to give life, real life, to all who believe in Him. He’s come to forgive our sin, release us from those chains, from that condemnation, so that we can experience life, real life, now.
Sin = Death = Separation from God
You can be physically alive but spiritually dead if you are living in sin separated from God!
Forgiveness = Life = Relationship with God
Yes, we long for Heaven. We look forward to Heaven. We believe in Heaven and in the reality that one day, all those who know Jesus and have given their lives to follow Jesus will live with Jesus forever. Yes!
But don’t spend your life missing this… Jesus came to bring Heaven to Earth and his message is clear. For those who believe in him, eternal life has ALREADY begun. You’re already living in the everlasting life Jesus offers if you have confessed that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of your life.
And if you have not, why not?
Run for Your Life!
There are thieves and robbers, there are those who are seeking to destroy your life… there are those who offer life that isn’t really life. It’s a counterfeit life, a fake, a poor substitute for the REAL LIFE Jesus offers.
You can spend all your days longing for the life you see on instagram, for the life the world offers, for the life you think others have, for the life you’ve always thought you wanted, but there is only ONE who offers REAL LIFE.
A few years ago I got to go on a hunting trip up in Arkansas with some friends. I’m not much of a hunter but I was happy to go spend some quality time with these guys. We went up to a cabin north of Searcy to go duck hunting.
At this point in my life I had never been duck hunting before. Some of you probably have so you know way more about this than I do. We got to the cabin and one of the guys set up some targets I could shoot at to get a little practice in. I’ve always enjoyed shooting and I’m a pretty good shot, especially when you consider the fact that I’m not a hunter! I was pretty good at hitting stationary cans… shooting moving ducks might be more difficult.
We all went to bed early that night. The plan was to get up super early, before the sun even thought about rising, and get to our duck blind before dawn.
The next morning, it was so cold, so early, I was wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into. We loaded up in our trucks with plenty of coffee, snacks, and ammunition! We drove up to a small creek and loaded everything into a couple of small John Boats.
We made our way down a narrow creek. There was ice and a little bit of snow on the ground and it was still dark. That creek finally opened up into a small pond and at first I thought we had hit the jack pot. There were ducks everywhere!
Come to find out, those weren’t real ducks. They were decoys! Fake ducks. They looked like ducks but they weren’t ducks. Apparently if you put out a bunch of fake ducks on a body of water the real ducks will think there’s a party going on that they don’t want to miss out on!
We dodged the fake ducks with the boat, get to the duck blind, and unload our stuff. We load our guns, take our places, and get ready. And then, as the sun starts to rise, we see them. High in the air. Ducks!
Two of the guys with us are world class duck callers and I’m watching in amazement as they work those ducks. They start calling them and those ducks change direction and come right to us. They hear the fake duck calls, they see the fake ducks, and they come right to the water in front of our duck blind covered with fake trees!
Part of me wants to yell, “It’s a trap! Run for your lives!” But then, the shooting begins!
All of this was created, built, and designed for their death!
There are thieves and robbers who create, build, and design things for your death.
Our world is filled with decoys that promise a party, a good time, and a good life, but it’s fake.
Listen and you’ll hear the voices calling you to come and join in, you don’t want to miss out, get closer and closer and closer until… boom. Shots are fired and what you find is that what you thought would lead to life actually leads to death.
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
– Jesus
Jesus wants to offer you real, abundant, overflowing LIFE.
ONLY Jesus can do that, because Jesus is LIFE.
If you’re wondering, What one thing, if it got better, would make the biggest difference?, perhaps it’s this. Maybe you need to drink more water.
Sure… drinking a glass of water will do you a lot of good. It will improve your life.
But if you want Water that will change your life, then come and drink from the well that will never run dry. From the springs of living water that offer eternal life. Drink from the water that Jesus offers because this water gives you eternal life.
Later today, maybe tomorrow, or one day this week… we’re going to be distracted from what is essential by what seems urgent. Here’s my encouragement, let’s keep the focus on what is essential for life.
And what is essential for life is the ONE who is life: Jesus.
#jesusislife
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