Woven throughout the memories in my mind, I recall teachers and preachers who’ve told me that Jesus came and said, “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10
Jesus came to give life to the dead and set free those who were captive to sin. He liberated man and frustrated Satan’s plan.
Eternal life through Jesus is a colossal thing. But it is so minimalized, marginalized and mundane-ized with the lifestyles we live now.
For many of us, we do the same thing every week at the same times every day. Here’s a bit of my schedule, to orchestrate the point:
Monday: Get up at 5:20 to leave for work by 6 a.m. Work from 7-3:30. Come home and clean the apartment and cook meals for the week. Take the dog out. Play with the dog. Go to bed.
Tuesday: Get up at 5:20 to leave for work by 6 a.m. Work from 7-3:30. Drive to Franklin. Eat. Meet with my mentor at 5:45. Arrive home around 8:30. Take the dog out. Play with the dog. Go to bed.
Wednesday: Get up at 5:20 to leave for work by 6 a.m. Work from 7-3:30. Come home and let the dog out. Leave for Life Group at 6, to make it there by 6:30. Stay at life group until 8:45. Come home. Take the dog out. Play with the dog. Go to bed.
Thursday: Get up at 5:20 to leave for work by 6 a.m. Work from 7-3:30. Drive to Franklin. Eat. Sing in choir from 6:30-8. Drive back home and arrive around 9. Take the dog out. Play with the dog. Go to bed.
Friday: Get up at 5:20 to leave for work by 6 a.m. Work from 7-3:30. Drive back home. Take the dog out. Play with the dog. Go to bed.
I do that every week. It’s crazy redundant. I bet you probably got a bit bored reading it, right? I got bored writing it. But, I had to do it to illustrate my point.
Jesus didn’t liberate me from sin and eternal torment in hell so that I’d do the same, mundane thing every day. He didn’t deliver me from a life of deception so that I’d live a life of drabness. He gave me life so that I’d live it in abundant obedience to Him.
I confess that I sometimes get bored with my weekly schedule. However, A New Way, A New Day is my church’s prophetic word for the year. I’ve been learning how to live and proceed in A New Day, everyday. God makes each day unique. Each day is the day of salvation. Each day is the day of the Messiah. The day that Jesus conquered death and closed the gap between God and man was the first New Day. Jesus did things that’d never been done before.
As the Bible instructs, I’m to be an imitator of Christ. So that means that I need to live each day as a new day and not a continuation of a series of endless, busy days.
My challenge and commission for myself is to live abundantly, not redundantly.
I challenge and commission you to do the same.
Letters from Lindsay | A blog by a Lincoln, Nebraska, writer 
Thanks. I was searching what people had said about John 10:10 as part of my sermon preparation and came across your post. Enjoyed it. God’s blessings on you this new day.
Personal illustrations to drive home a point often is successful, as this one is.
I preach “on earth as it is in heaven” is not only the goal, but it is because earth is in heaven. Universe means One Word, and since there is no other, God is always here among us, not “up there” as one residence in a three-storied universe; and we progressive discover how much He loves us when we “seek and ye shall find.” in the universe in which He, our Father lives with us, His children.
It still all sounds cliche. yes, indeed God said those things but how is it going to affect your routine…are you going to do things differently… are you actually going to meet the needs of the poor ? help the widow? feed the hungry? counsel the broken hearted? ….Maybe you already do that but your routine doesn’t show it.
Living more abundantly must have something to do with loving others the way Jesus did, getting appropriately angry like Jesus did, forgiving others like Jesus did, giving of oneself as Jesus did, etc., etc. I know alot of us including myself only spout warm n fuzzy ego stroking cliches rather than truly allowing Christ/God/Holy Spirit to melt our cold apathetic hearts so that we can follow the Spirit’s voice even at the risk of intruding upon our routinely dull existence. Sadly and to our ultimate destruction we often do indeed exist without ever truly living as we were created to. May God have mercy on us and save us from ourselves.