Life to the Fullest

"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


After being a Christian for the last few years I've noticed that this one verse is extremely popular in the church community, whether it be sermons or just for encouragement.  I've never met a fellow follower that has not heard this verse...and there's a good reason for that.  The problem that I've seen though is that a lot of Christians tend to read this and actively apply it, but they tend to kind of hit a wall in their faith so to speak.  I'm not excluding myself from this either, that's why I'm writing this.  I want to evaluate what it truly means to have a full life, a life that Christ sacrificed everything for us to have.


Have you ever thought about how different your life would be if you didn't have Christ in your life? I have, I do it often.  Would I be conscious of the needs of others? Would I be able to handle some of the immense challenges that being in the military offers? Would I have a full life?


I read a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan two years ago, and I can still remember a story that he told in the book.  It was about the Robinson family: Father, Mother, and 3 children.  Every Christmas morning instead of opening presents under a tree the Robinsons woke up extremely early to make fresh waffles and coffee.  They would go downtown and find homeless people on the street and feed them the hot waffles and coffee. They felt that the homeless deserve to have a hot breakfast, especially on Christmas morning.  It's stories like this that really make me evaluate my faith, and I hope it does the same for you.  I know all of us would rather wake up Christmas morning and be in our comfy pajamas and sit around the tree with excitement in our hearts.  "OOh, I wonder what mom and dad got me this year." But what would God rather us do?...
I'm not saying that giving gifts is a bad thing, but can we do better?  I think so. :)


Think about it like this: Does God get more joy from us being excited about giving/receiving presents, or from us being excited about serving others in a radical way?  I think the answer is obvious, based on what we all know about God from reading His Word. This doesn't just have to apply to Christmas either, I think we can apply it to all areas of life. I feel like this is what Jesus meant when he said we can have life to the full.  For me, and I think everyone can agree, the joy that comes from serving others for the glory of God is unlike any other.  It's pure, and rich...like nothing this world can offer.  So why not strive to do at much as we can? That's what this verse means to me. To serve others with a crazy radical love in order to bring joy to our Father in heaven as well as have it fill us. :)