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Mar 22, 2025 06:00am

Abundant

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Jesus promises in John 10:10 that He came that we may not only have life, but abundant life.

That sounds like a wonderful promise if you ask me!

I crave an abundant, full, and fulfilling life.

As a human, I’ve attempted to obtain such life by going after all the things.

I’ve taken “the vacation,” went for “the job,” and entered into “the relationship” only to feel…empty.

As a Christian, knowing the Bible says abundant life is possible through Christ, I’ve followed the “WWJD” mantra.

I’ve taken “the class.” I’ve volunteered in “the ministry.” I’ve even gone on “the mission trip” only to feel the same void I felt after my pursuit of worldly things.

For a long time this confused me.

Certainly it made sense when serving my flesh that things would come up empty, but void and disconnect with God while serving Him was hard to wrap my mind around.

I’ve talked to many Christians over the years who’ve shared my WWJD plight. They, like myself, have done all the “Jesus things” and still come up short in having true abundant life.

They are bored with their Christian lives. Dare I say, they’re also disappointed.

Though the class, ministry, and mission trip are things with godliness attached to them, at their root they are only things.

The Truth: Things, godly or worldly, never satisfy or provide fulfillment.

Jesus says that He is the source of abundant life meaning the pursuit of abundant life should be simple, right?

Wrong.

Matthew 7:13-14 the same Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

So how do we find it? How do we find the abundant life Jesus has to offer?

It’s important when seeking to obtain the things of God that we seek the entire counsel of the Word of God.

First, we must recognize Jesus as the only true source of life.

The Bible says in Proverbs 9:10 that, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

Paul, when speaking of Jesus in the New Testament says, “oh, that I may know Him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

Second, we must get to know Him increasingly more each day. When I married my husband, I knew his character but it is as we spend time together daily that I get to know him.

The same is true of our relationship with Christ. To have abundant life is to spend time with and know the life source: Jesus. We get to know Him through prayer and with the help of the Holy Spirit guiding us through God’s word: the Bible.

Third, we must know in our heart and mind that the abundant life Jesus offers centers around spiritual not physical things.

It may seem backwards, but in order to experience the abundant life Jesus has to offer we must die to the things we formerly looked to as our life source: even the godly things.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

Jesus says in John 12:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

If we want to gain the abundant life available through Jesus we have to die.

We must die to our flesh not only at salvation but daily in our sanctification (i.e., our journey to becoming like Christ.)

It is in the daily death to our flesh that we are made abundantly alive in Him.