This post is part of the series His Encouragement
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Welcome! Welcome, dearest friends, to His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for Your Thursday. Every Thursday, a few blogging friends and I will each bring you a Bible passage and a little hope-filled discussion. We pray that these Thursday posts help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. We also welcome you to join the conversation by commenting with your thoughts. God bless!
Today’s Encouragement
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”— John 10:10, KJV
Life is precious. Every second, every minute that passes is time that we can never get back. Every moment we share with loved ones is unique and, try as we may, we can never fully replicate it. Yet in this fast-paced world with an abundance of knowledge and distractions in the form of the Internet, social media, and so much more at our fingertips, we are allowing this scarce commodity to slip through our fingers. When your toddler comes running over to you asking: “Mama play blocks me?” and you respond: “In a minute…” because your eyes are glued to your phone or your computer or your television… THAT is a moment that you can never get back. Are you living in the here and now or are you missing the precious moments?
Life is fragile. There is no guarantee that we will be given a long life. In fact, there is no guarantee that we will even have tomorrow. Whether through illness or injury, gradual or sudden, anticipated or unexpected, the fragility of life means that it can end at any moment. That is not to say we should be pessimistic and not plan for the future. Certainly not! But it begs the question: are we truly experiencing life and life “more abundantly” NOW? Today? This very minute?
Life is brief. Are we so rushed and frazzled that the joy and peace have been sapped from us? Do we forget to celebrate and rejoice in the little things? Are we so focused on the daily grind that we have forgotten how to live? Do we wake up each morning with our minds already cluttered with to do lists, meeting reminders, and the like? Do we spend extra hours at the office to earn a little extra to buy the next “new thing” instead of spending time with our loved ones?
Life is real. Are we spending money we don’t have on a new TV, a new car, a new house to keep up appearances, compete with others? Is it just to prove to ourselves and the world that we have accomplished something? Are we lost in the virtual world of social media, always scrolling and liking (or pinning) cool crafts or amazing vacations or a DIY home improvement project, but never actually experiencing anything real ourselves?
That is not abundant living. That is merely existing and attempting to live vicariously through others. We run the risk of cultivating an almost fully artificial existence while shutting ourselves off from true, human-to-human, face-to-face interactions and genuine relationships. There is a reason why loneliness has reached epidemic portions despite society being more “connected” than ever before. (Read this!)
This is not the type of life that the Lord Almighty, our Creator and Redeemer, wants for us!
In John 10:10, Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” It is interesting that some translations end the verse with “satisfying life”, “fullest measure”, “live life to the fullest”, etc. Hmm… This should make us pause and evaluate our priorities.
Are we kissing our loved ones goodbye even if we are just going across the way to the store? Are we saying “I love you” a dozen or hundred times a day? Do we hug our children just because? Do we laugh and do silly dances down the hallway? Do we gather together for songs of praise and special moments of prayer? Are we standing in the rain just to feel the cool drops against our skin? Are we spending a day out in nature or enjoying a picnic lunch?
Our older son, Peanut, playing piano with his grandpa while we were visiting my parents the other day.
Enjoying a recent Sabbath in the beautiful Rim Country of Arizona with my in-laws and admiring the elk as they slowly passed by while grazing.
I want to live life to the fullest until my life overflows with goodness, joy, laughter, and love. That does not mean there will be no sorrows, no pain, no grief, no separation. Life is precious, life is fragile, life is brief, but most of all, life is real. We are not guaranteed tomorrow… we are not even guaranteed the rest of today! But in spite of these things, I choose life — life in all its fullness, life more abundantly.
What do you choose?
Now it is your turn! How does today’s verse encourage you? What verse or passage is blessing you today?
Be sure to also visit my fellow bloggers and read their encouragement for your Thursday as well:
- Trisha of Joy of Reading
- Nicole of The Christian Fiction Girl
- Jessica of A Baker’s Perspective
- Becca of The Becca Files
- Jenny Lynn
Are you a blogger? If you would like to join us every Thursday, please contact Trisha or Nicole.
Continue reading this series:
His Encouragement: Humble yourselves
This was such a great post! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks, Becca! The Holy Spirit definitely guided this one. I had been contemplating what to write all week, and this came to me this morning.
Excellent post. I can attest to the fact that we absolutely need to make the most out of every single day. We need to love and hug and kiss our loved ones every time we can. We truly do not know when our time is up. And, by showing that much love how can we not have a better, more abundant life? Love this post today!
Oh! I love what you have done to your site. It’s really pretty!
Amen! I am so grateful that my parents encouraged this mindset as I was growing up, and recent developments with my mom’s health reminded me of the importance of living a more abundant life in the here and now.
Thank you! The site needed a refreshing, and this is a bit more my style. 🙂
John 10:10 is definitely a good verse, it is up to us to choose. Jesus is the giver of abundant life and everything that makes it so!
Amen!
Beautifully written! We do need to make the most out of everyday, not only in our regular lives, but our spiritual lives as well. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Don’t put off talking to someone about the Lord that He has placed in your heart!!
So very true! Though it may sound cliche, we really should be living each day as if it was our last so not to miss or ignore all the precious moments,including the opportunities to share God’s love with others.