The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.  John 10:10

If you’re a follower of Jesus, what first drew you to Him?  Were you told about the fires of hell that await you without salvation or the streets of gold that you’d walk in heaven if you got saved?  Of course, the Bible does speak of the horror of hell and of the beauty of heaven but if we stop there, we’re missing what Jesus called “abundant life.”

A relationship with Jesus Christ is more, so much more than a fire insurance policy or a ticket to a “better place.”  In Jesus own words, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly!” (John 10:10). Too often, are we not much more concerned with Jesus Christ and the afterlife rather than with the things that God longs to work in our lives in the here and now?

When we say that “God has a plan for your life,” He actually does. Here are two things He wants for you, Christ-follower, today:  He wants you to know Him and His love for you intimately. “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart,” God says in Jeremiah 29:13.  He also wants to cultivate beautiful character into your life.  2 Corinthians 2:13 tells you that He wants to transform you into His image, if you’ll allow Him to do it.  Have you “asked Him into your heart” but haven’t discovered the abundant life?  Don’t settle for anything else.

 

Resource reading:  John 10:7-18